Nioh 3’s demo just hit Steam, and it’s achieving higher peak player counts than some full games

You know, I love how game demos have come back with a vengeance. There was a time between now and when I got PlayStation 2 demo disks free with a magazine, where the bite-sized versions of games seemingly dried up. However, with game devs rediscovering the power of demos (especially during Steam Next Fests), we’re seeing the appetiser-sized games back on the menu, and I couldn’t be happier.

If you’re interested in Nioh 3’s release on February 6th, you’ll be pleased to know that you can download its demo on Steam right now. It’s a good way to see how well the title will run on your PC, and if Steam Stats is to be believed, it seems that plenty of people are taking the same opportunity.

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Nioh 3’s demo on Steam hits just under 20,000 concurrent players

And that’s Nioh lie

Nioh 3’s demo has been getting a lot of love over on Steam. As reported by SteamDB, the demo has hit an all-time peak of 19,590 concurrent players, which is more than most full-sized games ever see in their entire lifetime. It just goes to show that releasing a free demo is a great way to give your game exposure to people who’d otherwise never think to try the title out.

If you’ve never heard of the Nioh games before, it’s a tough series that has kept players coming back for more. While there are some hints of the Souls-like design in Nioh’s DNA, it’s a very different beast, with faster combat, Diablo-like loot, and missions. If you’re looking for something tough but you’re a little tired of From Software’s fare, you can do a lot worse than give Nioh 3’s demo a shot.

Hopefully, the demo should speak for itself, but if you want even more information on what Nioh 3 is like, you’re in luck. Our sister site, TheGamer, recently got its hands on a final preview of Nioh 3, and they loved it:

I’ve always preferred Nioh to the more traditional Soulslikes, but Nioh 3 feels like the first entry in the series that could legitimately challenge and potentially even surpass FromSoft’s legendary games. The four hours that I played showed Nioh pushed to its limit, and if it keeps up that incredible pace, it’s easily going to be 2026’s first must-play game of the year.

Don’t forget to add Nioh 3 to your wishlist if you liked it; that way, you get an email in your inbox the moment the game releases on February 6th.