Broken Arrow is the year’s biggest RTS, hitting 31,000 players even before its official release

Update (June 18th)

The dev team responded to player feedback by adding 1v1 and 2v2 Skirmish mode support in Broken Arrow. They explained on their official discord:

They also plan to continue enhancing Skirmish mode with better AI, more balanced maps, and support for bot teammates as part of their long-term commitment to the game.

It’s great to see the devs actually listening to the community, especially after some pretty heated backlash. Things really blew up when someone on Reddit pointed out that the Broken Arrow Steam page was updated just days before the Advanced Access release, adding a note that Skirmish mode would only support 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 at launch. A lot of players felt that kind of important info should’ve been made much clearer, not just tucked away in an FAQ post right before release.

As for campaign issues, the team’s working on fixing the Big Wave and Blackout missions. They’re also tackling server problems affecting players in Russia and making improvements to the Chinese localization. Right now, the focus is on ironing out these current technical difficulties, but once things are stable, they’ll start rolling out new content.

Original text (June 17th)

So it begins. Broken Arrow, the RTS from Steel Balalaika we've all been waiting for, is finally out in Advanced Access ahead of the full launch on June 19th. Looks like a ton of people bought the Vanguard Edition, despite its pretty obvious FOMO tactics. Early Steam reviews are looking positive so far, but it’s not a flawless victory just yet.

Broken Arrow’s launch – Strong numbers, weak campaign

On day one, Broken Arrow pulled in around 31,000 concurrent players (based on the in-game online player counter on June 16th at 9 PM GMT) – and that’s before the full release. With the standard edition dropping in just a few days, that number could easily climb higher. Despite some server issues and bugs encountered, things seem to be running pretty smoothly.

But here’s something to keep in mind: Company of Heroes 3 peaked at around 36,000 players at launch too and we all remember how that went. Tons of people pre-ordered it, only to realize really fast just how rough the game actually was. Most of them said the same thing: it felt like selling early access but calling it a full game.

Right now, Broken Arrow seems to be going strong if you just look at the Steam ratings. But dig a little deeper, and it’s clear not everything’s perfect. Those “Mostly Positive” reviews could start slipping into “Mixed” territory before long.

Source: Broken Arrow; Developer: Steel Balalaika

If you bought Broken Arrow for the singleplayer content, you might find it a bit disappointing. The scenario editor seems broken, and some missions don’t load properly. While there is a 19-stage campaign, it doesn’t feel particularly engaging. To make things worse, there’s no 1v1 skirmish with AI yet (though it’s supposedly coming in a future free update), so right now, the game feels somewhat limited for solo players.

So where are all the positive reviews coming from? It’s pretty clear most players got Broken Arrow for the multiplayer, and to be fair, that part’s working pretty well. But here’s the real issue: singleplayer content, like in any solid RTS, should be a core part of the game. There was even a singleplayer mission during the beta tests, so it’s not like the game was advertised as multiplayer-only. Personally, the first 10 hours I spend in any RTS is usually the campaign. If that’s nowhere near finished quality, that’s a big problem – especially when the game’s being sold at a full price. If you were looking for the World of Conflict or Wargame level of craftsmanship, that’s not it.

Broken Arrow

June 19, 2025

Rate It!

• Overview

• multiplayer
• RTS
• military