I Analyzed PlayStation's Steam Launch Data: Spider-Man 2 Is a Warning Sign

I’m going to be blunt: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PC should never have launched this badly. As a professional gamer, I’ve seen plenty of rough ports, but seeing a flagship Spider-Man sequel land at just 67 percent positive reviews in its first two weeks on Steam was genuinely surprising. That is “Mixed” territory for a game that should have been an easy win for Sony.

Now, in 2026, the launch window data still reads like a cautionary tale. I dug into SteamDB numbers for every PlayStation Studios Steam launch, excluding remasters of games that were already on the platform. I looked at each title’s average player count over its first two weeks and its positive review score over the same period. The result? Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 had the third-worst launch of any PlayStation Studios game on Steam, only beating The Last of Us: Part 1 and Returnal.

How did a sequel to one of PlayStation’s most popular superhero games fall this far? The player reaction suggested the port simply was not up to standard. That is not a content problem. Spider-Man 2 was already a hit on PS5. So what changed? PC players expect solid performance, stable frame times, and options that respect the platform. When those basics wobble, review scores collapse fast.

The two-week average player count tells its own story. Spider-Man 2 pulled in 13,638 average concurrent players in its launch window. That put it in the bottom five, ahead of only Returnal at 3,105, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection at 4,633, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart at 4,643, and Spider-Man: Miles Morales at 5,500. For a franchise that recently had Spider-Man Remastered averaging 40,666 players in the same window, the drop is hard to ignore.

Reviews were not much kinder. After two weeks, Spider-Man 2 sat at 67 percent positive. The only two games with worse two-week review scores were The Last of Us: Part 1 at 50 percent and Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition at 64 percent. The difference is that both of those games eventually recovered. The Last of Us improved to 77 percent, and Horizon Zero Dawn climbed to 87 percent. That suggests Spider-Man 2 can still recover too, but the first impression was already damaged.

For contrast, the top of the table looks completely different. God of War took first place overall with a 47,142 two-week average player count and a 97 percent positive review score. Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered finished second with 40,666 average players and also 97 percent positive reviews. Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut placed third with 42,855 average players and 89 percent positive reviews. Those games launched clean, and PC players rewarded them.

Here is the full data I worked from:

The table makes the pattern obvious. A decent review score is not enough if the player count is tiny, and a strong IP is not enough if the port arrives in poor shape. Spider-Man 2 had the brand power, but it did not have the launch polish.

So what should Sony take from this? Honestly, the PC audience has become more demanding, and that is a good thing. We are no longer willing to accept a poor experience just because a game carries a famous logo. A rushed port can hurt a game’s long-term reputation, and in the era of Steam reviews, that damage happens within hours, not weeks.

I still think Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 can turn things around if Sony commits to serious patches. The Last of Us Part 1 proved that recovery is possible. But the lesson from this launch is clear: on PC, your first two weeks are your resume. If the port is not ready, players will let you know immediately — and the data will remember. 🎮📉