At the end of 2024, the demo of a space-shop game never drew more than 28 players at once, according to tinyBuild CEO Alex Nichiporchik, cited by VGTimes. On October 29, 2026, the same project, renamed Probably Stolen, reached 112,145 concurrent players on Steam (the maximum number of players connected at the same time), a record for the publisher according to TechTimes.
The studio Questing Goose and tinyBuild announce more than a million copies sold in about ten days. That figure comes from the publisher and has not been audited. Here is what the counts say about the peak, the player base and the reviews, then what the game asks of newcomers.
From a 28-player prototype to a million copies
The project that became Probably Stolen was called Deepspace Emporium. tinyBuild and the Montreal studio reworked the visuals and mechanics, then changed the name, VGTimes summarizes. The demo then became one of the most played of the October Steam Next Fest (Steam’s free-demo festival): Output Lag ranks it first in its count, with 39,696 concurrent players at the top, about 12,000 more than the runner-up. More than 500,000 people had wishlisted the game by the time of release on October 28.
| Stage | Publisher or studio announcement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A few hours after launch (October 28) | 200,000 copies | VGTimes |
| One day | 350,000 | VGTimes |
| October 30 | 500,000 | DLCompare |
| One week | 750,000 | VGTimes |
| About ten days | More than a million | VGTimes |
In the million announcement, the studio writes: “Seeing this many people running shops on the station means the world to our small team”. After the first day, it had summed up the result on Reddit as “it came out of nowhere”, again according to Output Lag.
The October 29 peak is behind us, but the player base remains large
The Probably Stolen record, 112,145 concurrent players, dates from October 29, the day after release, according to TechTimes, which cites SteamDB (a Steam statistics site). It beats tinyBuild’s previous record, Graveyard Keeper 2, at 60,538 players, by 85%.
| When | Concurrent players | Source |
|---|---|---|
| October 29, peak of the day | 112,145 | TechTimes (SteamDB) |
| October 29, 1 p.m. in New York | 76,160 | Output Lag |
| October 30 | More than 73,000 | TechTimes |
| Monday, November 9, 11:21 p.m. (Paris time) | 43,841 | Steam public API, reading taken by this site |
The November 9 reading is about 39% of the peak: a Monday evening snapshot, not an average. The player base remains large, but the curve is going down.
Reviews have moved too. TechTimes and VGTimes cited 96% positive reviews, TechTimes on more than 2,400 reviews. On the Probably Stolen Steam page, read on November 9 at 11:21 p.m. Paris time, the label is “Mostly Positive”: 74% of 18,957 reviews. The sources read do not explain the gap, and the site did not read those reviews one by one. It is a gap noted, nothing more. For another gap between press reception and Steam player reviews, see our article on Silent Hill: Townfall.
What the Probably Stolen Steam page promises: a shop and a rising rent
According to the game’s Steam page, reread on November 9 at 11:21 p.m. Paris time, you take over a shop in a space station thanks to a generous loan and questionable timing, with a rent that keeps rising and factions watching you. You test the waters, have rare items appraised, and resell counterfeits or stolen goods if you accept the retaliation. The page also flags depictions of drug and alcohol abuse and crimes such as racketeering, bribery and the trade of illegal items.
| Item | What the Steam page says |
|---|---|
| Price | €19.99; €17.99 at 10% off, with the promotion advertised until November 11 at 6 p.m. Paris time, to be rechecked before buying |
| Platform | Windows only, single-player |
| Language | French interface |
| Achievements | 21 |
| Minimum requirements | Windows 10 64-bit, Intel Core i3 or equivalent, 8 GB of memory, GTX 650 Ti-class graphics card, DirectX 10, 1 GB of disk space |
The press compares the inspection of goods to Papers, Please. GameSpew, which scored the game 8 out of 10 on October 29 from a code provided by the publisher, describes packages and labels to scan to spot counterfeits, and a Resident Evil-style grid inventory. DLCompare adds that version 1.0 brings Steam Workshop (the mod showcase built into Steam).
Getting started: the Apprentice start and the day-seven rent
Probably Stolen offers nine starts, according to DLCompare: Apprentice, Water Merchant, Fence, Gunsmith, Chemist, Hydroponic Farmer, Aquafarmer, Rat Wrangler and Rock Bottom (starting from zero), with four difficulty levels. GameSpew says the game recommends Apprentice to anyone playing for the first time, because it lets you get to grips with the systems. The Output Lag guide, published on November 1, details the first week with that start.
| Situation | What the Output Lag guide advises |
|---|---|
| Day one | Buy food from the first sellers, the most valuable stock early on, then resell it to whoever asks for it |
| Wholesale offer | Accept it: the guide notes discounts of 15 to 40%, but you have to buy the whole lot |
| Rent | Keep 200 credits for day seven, 210 the following week |
| The dump | Don’t go every night: you open late and lose a customer; put your finds in the backpack by hand |
| Suspicious packs | Check the seal, the color and the font before accusing a seller: a false accusation costs reputation |
| Police alarm | Use it only on a confirmed suspect: a false alarm is punished with a fine |
If you are aiming for all 21 achievements, the Gaming Deputy guide flags two conditions that are settled from the start: “Prodigious” requires the shop’s deed before day 50, and “Clean Hands” requires winning without selling any stolen item or contraband.
As for what comes next, VGTimes reports that Questing Goose plans one more starting trade in December, then two big updates in January and April 2027, with new items, vehicles and characters.
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