Steam week in review: metroidvanias are still coming thick and fast, but has the world moved on?

Did Silksong kill the metroidvania? At least two high quality “search action” platformers released on Steam last week, but you might have struggled to learn about them amid the buzz around Subnautica 2, and the clamouring to find a new angle on Mixtape.

One is Shattered Divinities, an interesting Chinese-developed fantasy outing. The other is Clockwork Ambrosia, which I’ve played for about five hours. It’s a gorgeous thing to see in action, with a lovingly detailed approach to pixel art reminiscent of Iconoclasts or Owl Boy. Its dreamy commingling of chrome-hued sci-fi with blue sky steampunk cheerfulness is a real pleasure to spend time with. It’s unmistakably top tier gear.

Clockwork Ambrosia borrows a bit from Mega Man with its gun-centric combat, but adds a substantial modding system. Each of the four main weapons can be tweaked extensively with add-ons found throughout the world. Loot is abundant, and every chest tends to have something consequential inside: for example, a mod that lets me fire missiles vertically rather than horizontally, or a mod that splits my pulse rifle projectiles into three. Even in the first quarter of the game I found myself fiddling with my loadout a whole bunch, especially before boss encounters. In this way, it sometimes feels a bit like Armored Core.

I’d highly recommend Clockwork Ambrosia, and if it was released ten years ago I probably wouldn’t feel so alone in my enthusiasm. But here we are: the metroidvania no longer has the currency it enjoyed back when the likes of Axiom Verge, Hollow Knight, Guacamelee, Ori, and Chasm were releasing at a steady clip at the end of the 2010s.

It doesn’t even matter if the presentation is exceptional. I doubt many have heard of MIO: Memories in Orbit, or know that Grime got a sequel this year. These two, with Clockwork Ambrosia, are as good as anything released last decade (or indeed, in the ’90s). MIO especially, has an art style that would have marketed itself, back when the genre was at its height.

Aside from Silksong, the last big metroidvania to hit the top 50 was Animal Well, which debuted at 10. Here are the others that managed to crack the top 50 easy done (Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was an Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store exclusive at launch, so it’s not included):

It’s not so unusual for styles to enjoy time in the sun before receding for a while. I doubt the current King’s Field-like craze will last forever, and surely, surely, there’s an end to all these retail simulators. If anything, the decline of the metroidvania—at least in terms of the buzz they can generate—demonstrates how risk prone and capricious indie development is. When Realmsoft launched the Kickstarter for Clockwork Ambrosia in 2018, the project would have looked like a deadset winner at a time when the genre was thriving.

How can a team predict genre fatigue nearly a decade before release? Modern indie development is still young enough for these long, arcing patterns to be mysterious. In 2026, not a single metroidvania has penetrated Steam’s Weekly Seller chart, save for Hollow Knight: Silksong back in January.

Buzz or not, you should really check out Clockwork Ambrosia.

Top Steam games by revenue (May 5 – 12)

Steam releases its top sellers charts on Wednesdays, so the below chart doesn’t factor in some late week releases that might have been big.

Forza Horizon 6 pre-sales are probably so high because the deluxe edition grants five days early access (starting May 15). I guess it demonstrates that these incentives work. As Jody Macgregor pointed out earlier today, it’s hit a higher player count than its predecessor well before its wider release.

Subnautica 2 at number 4 is about what I would expect. It’s not a reflection on sales per se (because the charts are at the mercy of heaps of other factors) but it’s kinda funny to note that the most wishlisted game on Steam didn’t chart as highly as Far Far West did the week before, or Windrose the week before that (the latter was the second top sellers in its launch week).

Last week’s Steam deep cuts

Best Steam user review of the week

This game made me feel alive again.
I’ve been kicking, burning, netting, stabbing, slashing, and most of all kicking, burning, netting, stabbing, slashing and most of all kicking, burning, netting, stabbing, slashing and most of all kicking, burning, netting, stabbing, slashing, and most of all…. you get the point.
10/10

– Ikea Bean Cat on The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot