New open-world MMO Where Winds Meet hits 9 million players in 2 weeks, with Steam reviews soaring at a "Very Positive" rating

Where Winds Meet has seen quite a successful launch, reaching over two million players within its first weekend and quickly racking up "Very Positive" reviews on Steam – but it appears the open-world MMO isn't done surpassing milestones just yet.

Although only two weeks have passed since Where Winds Meet launched globally on both Steam and PlayStation 5, the stunning MMO with action-packed Sekiro-style combat has been tearing up the charts and shows no signs of stopping. As developer Everstone Studio reveals in a new online post, the game has managed to reach over nine million players in the short couple of weeks it's been out in the wild.

"Winds rise through the bamboo forest, and with a sword in hand, we step into the Jianghu," reads Everstone Studio's announcement. "9 million wanderers have set out from our humble abode among the bamboo. Thank you." That's certainly no number to scoff at – but I can't say I'm surprised by it. After all, this is the same game that saw its devs assure players they wouldn't have to pay for anything to excel or enjoy it.

Comments see fans praising it for this system, with one person calling Where Winds Meet "another prime example of a live service game done right: gameplay and player satisfaction FIRST." It's even more unsurprising when you take a look at its Steam page and its nearly 40,000 reviews – reviews that add up to a stellar "Very Positive rating. Countless reviews echo that sentiment, that it's a fun yet free game, and plenty have 100+ hours already.

The official "Most Played" Steam charts further speak to Where Winds Meet's success, as the MMO currently sits in fifth place – beating out the likes of Battlefield 6. Obviously, there's no way of telling just how long it'll all last, but it's nice to see a fresh face emerge in what's arguably an otherwise dominated genre (I'm looking at you, Final Fantasy 14 and World of Warcraft). Plus, for now, it's clearly doing very well.

Here's hoping the future of Where Winds Meet looks just as bright as its journey so far, and the numbers continue to rise – nine million in two weeks is no small feat, but with so little time under its belt, I feel the MMO could hit even higher.

Where Winds Meet players find a way to skip side quests by manipulating the MMO's AI chatbot NPCs into just giving over the goods instead.