Deltarune Chapter 5 has arrived, propelling Toby Fox's episodic RPG to new heights of popularity. Since its release two weeks after being announced during a Nintendo Direct, the game's concurrent player count on Steam has surged to an unprecedented 291,816. This figure more than doubles the game's previous peak, propelling Deltarune into the top 10 most played games on the platform.
This surge is a significant achievement for a single-player RPG, which typically sees concurrent player numbers in the low five figures. Deltarune's prior all-time peak was 133,930 players, recorded last June when the first four chapters were initially released as a paid product on Steam. The current increase in engagement around Chapter 5 also saw Deltarune climb to 13th on Steam's list of top-selling games.
While Steam statistics offer a compelling view of the game's reception, they represent only a portion of the player base. Deltarune is also accessible on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch consoles, suggesting a considerably larger total number of players engaging with the new chapter. Social media platforms are abuzz with fan activity, as players share theories, discuss secrets, and post guides related to the new content after a year-long wait.
Players have also expressed their satisfaction through Steam reviews, where Deltarune maintains a highly positive rating of 98%. The game's release strategy has seen Chapter 1 launch for free in 2018, followed by subsequent chapters released intermittently. The wait for Chapter 5, approximately one year after the joint release of Chapters 3 and 4, marks the shortest gap between content updates to date. Toby Fox has indicated that development will continue on the remaining chapters of Deltarune, with Chapter 6 currently slated for a 2027 release.