Look, let's be honest, asymmetrical survival horror newcomer 'Halloween: The Game', slated for release on September 9, kicked off its early access phase on the 6th. As the launch day creeps closer, the title has climbed all the way to 3rd place on Steam's global top sellers chart, pulling in a 'Mostly Positive' reception from deluxe edition buyers.

Halloween: The Game takes place in the original film's iconic setting of Haddonfield, delivering a horror experience heavily reminiscent of Dead by Daylight. Developed by IllFonic—the very same folks behind Friday the 13th: The Game—players choose to side either with the lone slasher 'Michael Myers' or a squad of four survivors dubbed the 'Heroes of Haddonfield'.

Michael Myers aims to assassinate 12 citizens, including the 4 player-controlled survivors, before the sun rises, wielding the 'Shape Jump' ability to teleport through the darkness and 'Killer's Sense' for precise target tracking. Meanwhile, the survivors must call the cops to ramp up patrol pressure or arm themselves and NPCs to fend off Michael and make their escape.

Much like the genre's defining title Dead by Daylight, it features asymmetrical showdowns where opposing sides fight for murder or escape respectively. However, it shakes things up by introducing tower defense elements where survivors must protect specific NPCs, boasting robust resistance strong enough to physically overpower the killer using weapons.

Ahead of the official launch, early access user reviews currently sit at 'Mostly Positive' (with 5,535 participants and 72% positive). The lighting, map design, and music have earned praise for capturing the original movie's atmosphere brilliantly. On top of that, distinct survival objectives, unique interactions like fighting back with weapons or hopping into vehicles, and a playable story mode functioning as a tutorial have all drawn favorable responses. That being said, optimization issues have drawn plenty of flak, and complaints have surfaced that the poor artificial intelligence of NPCs needing escort makes playing a bit of a headache.

Elsewhere, the latest NBA 2K installment NBA 2K27, released on the 4th, is holding onto its spot in the rankings, though it's currently stuck with 'Mixed' reviews due to a lack of crossplay support and a barrage of bugs. Rounding out the list, the enhanced version of GTA 5 grabbed 9th place thanks to a fresh 50% discount, while Red Dead Redemption 2 landed in 10th following a sale that kicked off on the 26th.

Over in the daily peak Concurrent Players top 20, Fishing Method recorded 84,741 players, sliding down to 20th after dropping about 15,000 from the previous day. While numbers generally dipped across the board due to weekend player drop-off, Deadlock saw a minor bump to 91,106 players, securing 15th place.