Look, let's be honest: Task Bar Hero has smashed through the 410,000 Concurrent Players mark on Steam. However, the game is currently in a sticky situation, having suspended its marketplace support for buying and selling items since the 8th due to relentless server strain. Consequently, that explosive surge in user growth has lost a bit of its lustre.

Now in its second week, Task Bar Hero continued to draw in crowds even after hitting 260,000 Concurrent Players on the 5th, reaching a peak of 415,374 by the 9th. That is an average daily increase of roughly 30,000 players. Yet, in stark contrast to these numbers, the game is being hammered by criticism, with its Steam user rating plummeting to 'Mostly Negative' (18,830 participants, 39% positive).

The primary culprits behind this backlash are the severe server errors caused by an influx of macro accounts and illicit software users flooding the Steam market, coupled with a sharp drop in item drop rates. The developers have been patching to address server load since launch, and as of the 8th, they pulled the plug on the marketplace. To ease the burden on server data processing, they shifted from instant item delivery to a mailbox system, requiring players to manually refresh their inbox to claim their boxes.

However, player sentiment remains sour even after the patch on the 8th. Recent reviews suggest that the new mailbox system, intended to mitigate server load, is actually spawning new errors. Players report being unable to claim boxes, while some have noted that bugs causing materials and results to vanish entirely during item synthesis or box opening have only worsened.

There have been no further patches to fix the bugs following the temporary market closure. Since they only recently addressed the root cause of the server strain, we might need a bit more time to see if these measures actually bear fruit. We shall keep a close eye on the situation.

Meanwhile, the new title Solarpunk has shot straight to 3rd place on the global Steam charts upon release. It is a relaxing game set on floating islands, currently holding a 'Mostly Positive' rating. Following that, Persona 4 Revival, revealed during the weekend showcase, secured the 10th spot.