Gothic 1 Remake sells 500,000 copies in its first week
Gothic 1 Remake has crossed 500,000 copies sold in its debut week (June 5–12), a strong result for a niche RPG franchise that hasn't had a major release in over a decade. The game launched on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series, and peaked at nearly 78,000 concurrent players on Steam alone. For a demanding, deliberately old-school RPG, those numbers are hard to ignore.
Critics vs. players
The critic-versus-player split here is unusually wide. Reviewers landed at a 73 on Metacritic — fair-to-mixed, with several pointing to technical issues and a design philosophy rooted firmly in 2001. Players tell a different story: the Steam rating sits at 85% Very Positive across more than 16,000 reviews, per VG Chartz. Long-time fans of the original Gothic are rating it significantly higher than newcomers, which tracks — this is a remake built for people who remember the Mine Colony.
The biggest source of negative feedback is performance on PS5. The game runs on Unreal Engine 5, and optimization complaints were common enough at launch that day-one patches were deployed. PC remains the dominant platform by engagement, and the experience there is considerably smoother, notes SlashSkill.
Gothic 1 Remake topped Steam's trending charts in its first week, peaking at nearly 78,000 concurrent players.
What this means going forward
The game was developed by Barcelona-based Alkimia Interactive and published by Swedish studio THQ Nordic — the same publisher that acquired the Gothic IP after the original developer, Piranha Bytes, was shut down. In their post-launch statement, the teams said:
> "Alkimia Interactive and THQ Nordic are overjoyed by this start. The teams sincerely thank everyone who has already set foot in the lands of the Colony — and especially the old, loyal fans who have supported the Gothic series for the last 25 years. Without such a passionately dedicated community, this milestone would simply not have been possible."
The real question now is whether half a million copies in a week is enough to greenlight a Gothic 2 remake. Gothic 2 is widely considered the stronger game, with a devoted fanbase that has waited years for exactly this moment. No announcement has been made, but the sales trajectory makes the case.
Gothic 1 Remake is available on Steam for $49.99 (PC) and $59.99 on PS5. A limited Collector's Edition — capped at 7,500 units worldwide — was also released at launch.