Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a Soulslite released by indie studio A44 this year, with only one other game under their belt in Ashen. The game recently broke 500,000 total sales – a monumental win for a 60-person team.
Comparing Flintlock to something like Elden Ring would be ridiculous, but Lies of P (another Soulslike released in September 2023) is much fairer. Lies of P sold over 1,000,000 copies by October of the same year, which was amazing considering the teams behind it, Neowiz Games and Round8 Studios, had never attempted a Soulslike game before. P’s Lies was a critical and community darling, and was nominated for two awards at that year’s The Game Awards.
So why did Lies of P do so much better than Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn in the same time frame? You could argue that it all depends on time and resources. Lies of P released during a major drought for Soulslike content, and was certainly touted as a bit of a saving grace for all of us itching for some considerable humiliation. Riding the never-ending hype-train of the yet-to-be-released Elden Ring DLC, and with considerable monetary backing from their large development team, Lies of P had every ball in their court.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn was always at a bit of a disadvantage then, releasing just after Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, while people continued to play it very actively. This is somewhat comparable to the rather unfortunate release of Horizon: Forbidden West, which came out only a week before Elden Ring and was met with somewhat halted sales when Elden Ring did release. But still, for A44 to create a game this truly good (if not imperfect) is an absolutely monumental feat, and 500,000 sales is frankly still less than they deserve, but it’s still a testament to the team and their passion for what they have. done
In any case, Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn has done relatively well in terms of both critical reception (including our review) and user opinion, sitting at 7.1 out of 10 in critical reviews on Metacritic, and a mostly positive rating on Steam with over 300 user reviews. There have been some issues though, with the game effectively being reviewed on Xbox GamePass due to some platform-specific bugs (and the political reasons you’re probably well aware of by now).
If you’re looking for more Soulslike goodness from us here at Pro Game Guides, check out our Soulslikes List!
