Sedleo, the medieval action game developer has launched a free demo to a disappointing reception in the current week. Despite months of buzz online and the claim of the studio about 100,000 wishlists, 1348 Ex Voto peaked on Steam with less than 100 concurrent players. The response has now reignited discussions on the gap between actual player interest and social media engagement. It’s particularly for titles that explicitly market themselves to progressive audiences.
1348 Ex Voto players’ numbers start to fall short of hype
The gamers rallying behind Steam found that the game’s demo tells a clear story via numbers. Data shows a game that never broke the past triple digits in concurrent players, hovering between 97-102 since release. It becomes striking when weighed against the reported 6-figure wishlist count of the developer.
The social media reactions, though, have been blunt. A user has posted, “They made fun of @Knights_Path for featuring a beautiful female NPC. Now their ‘modern audience’ demo has 89 players…total.“
Another observer has notably stated, “The demo for the new medieval game for a modern audience, 1348 Ex-Voto, flops on Steam with less than 100 players.”
The gap between actual downloads and online chatter has not gone unnoticed. The commenter pointed out that, “The woke are pathologically incapable of moving the needle on anything. They don’t play games. Never have, never will.”
Others have even drawn comparisons to some recent major industry influences and failures. An X user wrote, “1348 Ex voto, the lesbian medieval knight game’s demo has already peaked at 97 players. One of the worst launches for an indie game despite the marketing and notoriety.”
Design choices and some technical issues drew fire
Beyond player count, the creative direction of the game has become criticism’s central point. Aeta, the protagonist voiced by Alby Baldwin, has been described by the developers as “slightly gender queer” with an intentionally androgynous appearance. It has been publicly stated by Jennifer English about her passion for telling the LGBTQ+ stories via her roles.
A comment has captured this sentiment, suggesting, “Who the heck wants to play as a weird looking, skinny bowl-cut lesbian?” While another stated, “Put a woman in it, make it lame and gay. Exactly.”
Players who have tried the demo have reported some technical issues. Stiff combat mechanics, camera angles, lighting issues, performance stuttering, and more are some common complaints within Steam discussion forums. An early tester said, “I was looking forward to this game since I saw the trailer, just finished the demo, and I’ll say right now, this game won’t be a hit sadly.”
Every supporter has acknowledged shortcomings. A positive comment said, “It’s great to finally play a character that more accurately represents me in a medieval setting for once,” but offered no opinion on actual gameplay experience.
Marketing strategies of the game are backfiring amidst accusations
The controversy did not emerge organically. 1348 Ex Voto inserted itself into an ongoing discussion about the medieval title, Knights Path, that had faced criticism for featuring conventionally attractive female characters. It’s been posted by developers, “Don’t forget to wishlist and note the release date on your modern agenda,” mocking the approach of their competitor.
That tweet has generated huge engagement, reportedly reaching a million impressions and driving wishlists to 100,000. Yet when the free demo was launched, all those engaged users failed to materialize.
“You mean the likes and totally organic social media interactions didn’t translate to anyone showing up?” one observer wrote. “Wow. Wow. Wow. You mean them dunking on another game dev’s choice of words didn’t translate to anything?”
The history of the publishers has also drawn attention. Smash JT pointed out the connection to Caravan Sandwich, the indie title, the social media account of which posted, “One year since the release of Caravan Sandwich, also a fascist, got 360 no-scoped. What a week.” It has led a few to question the approach of the company to audience engagement. Another comment further summed up the entire situation that liking the X posts is the game in itself. RIP Bozo.
