If you’re just getting into Soulslikes or you want a data-backed list of what people actually play, rather than just opinions, this guide is for you.
We’ll go through the top 10 souls like games that are really active in 2025, using real stats and trusted sources, not just vibes.
Main sources used:
- SteamDB and SteamCharts for concurrent player counts and all-time peaks
- News and features from PC Gamer, Gamereactor, and others for context and launch date.
- Extra sales/activity estimates from analytics-style sites that track player numbers and revenue
In this guide, we`ll walk you through the 10 most-played souls-like games, their concurrent players, and why they`re mostly played.
How we picked these top souls like games
Here’s a quick overview before we jump into the list.
We looked at:
- SteamDB’s “Souls-like” tag chart to see which games have the highest real concurrent players and all-time peaks in 2025
- SteamCharts and similar trackers to double-check if those games are still active now, not just at launch
- Articles and features from sites like PC Gamer and Gamereactor to confirm which games are actually being treated as soulslikes, not just tagged that way by mistake
So this list is not just “my top 10 souls-like games”. It’s a mix of numbers + what the community and press clearly treat as soulslikes in 2025.
Top 10 most played souls like games in 2025
Here’s the main section you probably came for.
Each game includes a brief explanation, relevant statistics, and the primary sources used.
1. Elden Ring: Nightreign
Nightreign is the new kid in town, and it exploded when it launched.
- On Steam, it hit an all-time peak of around 313,000 concurrent players near launch, according to SteamDB data.
- PC Gamer reported that it passed 2 million players in the first 24 hours, with nearly 300,000 people playing at the same time on Steam alone.
Nightreign is a roguelike-style spin on Elden Ring: you run expeditions, experiment with builds, and keep coming back. That “just one more run” loop is exactly why it became one of the top Souls-like games so fast.
2. Elden Ring (base game + Shadow of the Erdtree)
The base Elden Ring is still a monster in 2025.
- Steam’s all-time peak for Elden Ring is about 953,000 concurrent players, which is huge for a mostly single-player RPG.
- It still sits in the top few spots in SteamDB’s “Souls-like – Most played” tag chart even years after launch.
The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion and then Nightreign kept pulling people back in, so it’s not just a one-time spike. This is why any list of the best souls like games feels empty without Elden Ring near the top.
3. Black Myth: Wukong
Black Myth: Wukong is the big flashy soulslike based on Journey to the West, and its numbers are honestly wild.
- Steam data shows an all-time peak of about 2.4 million concurrent players, which puts it among the biggest PC launches ever.
- It’s listed on Steam under the Souls-like tag and sits high in the most-played chart for that tag in 2025.
The combat feels very much like a soulslike mixed with flashy character action. Because of its scale and numbers, a lot of people now mention it when they talk about the best souls like games, especially on PC.
4. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers flew a bit under the radar before launch, then surprised everyone.
- Gamereactor reported that it “made history as the most-played soulslike not made by FromSoftware” shortly after launch, based on its concurrent player count.
- On Steam, it has an all-time peak of well over 100,000 concurrent players and appears in the top 25 soulslike games by activity.
It’s set in a dark version of late Ming dynasty China with a female lead and a heavy Wuxia feel. In 2025, it’s one of the clear top souls like games outside the FromSoftware bubble.
5. Lies of P
Lies of P is the creepy clockwork Pinocchio soulslike that just keeps growing.
- In June 2025, it hit a new all-time peak of around 30,000 concurrent players on Steam after DLC and updates, which was about 50% higher than its previous peak.
- One analytics breakdown puts Steam sales at around 2.1 million copies, which is strong for a fairly niche sub-genre.
- It appears in the top 25 on SteamDB’s soulslike tag chart.
Because of this, it shows up again and again in articles about the best souls like games and top 10 souls like games for 2025.
6. Dark Souls III
Dark Souls III is older, but it refuses to die.
- In 2025, it still sits in the top 20 most-played soulslike games on Steam by daily activity.
- It regularly peaks at several thousand concurrent players per day, even years after launch.
It’s also a common entry in lists of the best souls-like games because it’s basically the “polished” classic souls formula. A lot of players replay it between new releases, which keeps it active.
7. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Sekiro is more focused and more punishing, but it still holds a big audience.
- SteamDB shows Sekiro in the top chunk of soulslike games by average player count, with recent 24-hour peaks in the thousands.
- PC Gamer’s 2025 “Top 100 PC Games” feature calls it out as one of the strongest action games of the last decade, which keeps it in the spotlight.
No surprise that people who search for the best souls like games end up here. It’s more about rhythm and perfect deflects than stats, which is why challenge-runner and speedrun communities love it.
8. Dark Souls: Remastered
The remastered version of the original Dark Souls is still very active.
- It sits in the top 25 on the SteamDB soulslike list, with several thousand people playing every day.
- For a game first released back in 2011 (and remastered later), that’s impressive long-term retention.
It’s the “proper” way to play the first game on modern platforms, and it’s still recommended whenever someone asks for a starting point or a more “traditional” feel among the top souls like games.
9. Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition
Nioh 2 is that very crunchy, very stat-heavy samurai soulslike from Team Ninja.
- On SteamDB’s soulslike chart, it’s around the top 30, with a steady daily player base and peaks in the low thousands.
- It shows up in almost every serious list of the best souls like games, especially when people want something more build-heavy than Dark Souls.
The combination of loot, stances, and deep systems keeps people grinding, so it still counts as one of the more played soulslikes in 2025.
10. Lords of the Fallen (2023 reboot)
This is the modern reboot, not the original 2014 game.
- In 2025, it sits in the top 30 of soulslike games on Steam by activity, with daily peaks in the low thousands.
- It’s often mentioned alongside Lies of P and Wo Long as part of a “new wave” of non-FromSoftware soulslikes.
The dual-realm mechanic (Umbral and Axiom) and big boss designs keep it talked about, so it’s fair to include it in a top 10 souls like games list based on both stats and coverage.
Notable mentions
Sometimes the line between “top 10” and “almost there” is thin.
These games also pull solid numbers and get mentioned a lot.
Remnant II
- Co-op shooter soulslike with randomised maps and builds.
- Sits high in the Soulslike chart with stable activity.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
- Team Ninja’s Three Kingdoms takes on the formula.
- Had a strong launch spike and still holds a loyal player base in 2025.
Smaller but growing soulslikes
Games like Nine Sols, Blasphemous 2, and Another Crab’s Treasure mix soulslike ideas with 2D and metroidvania style. They don’t pull the same raw player numbers as Elden Ring or Black Myth, but they’re often called some of the best souls like games if you want something different.
Most played vs most streamed.
It’s worth noting that “most played” and “most streamed” are not always the same thing.
Some games are huge on Twitch and YouTube, others are quiet but have big daily player bases.
- Stream Hatchet and similar analytics show that Elden Ring, Sekiro, Lies of P, Remnant II, and newer launches like Nightreign pull big hours watched on Twitch when they drop or get new content.
- But older titles like Dark Souls III often have a steady player base that doesn’t always translate into massive streaming numbers.
So when you think about top souls like games, it helps to look at both player stats and streaming stats. Some games are “streamer bait”, some are quiet comfort plays.
Console vs PC (and the best souls like games ps5)
Consoles matter a lot here, especially PlayStation.
This article leans on PC stats because that’s where we have public numbers, but that doesn’t mean console soulslikes are small.
A few key points:
- Elden Ring, Black Myth: Wukong, Lies of P, Lords of the Fallen, and many others are on PS5 and Xbox, and often sell very well there too.
- If you search for the best souls like games on PS5, you’ll see a similar list, with extra attention to Demon’s Souls (the PS5 remake) and Bloodborne. Those are still very active and loved, but we don’t have the same detailed live player numbers as on Steam.
- Bloodborne, in particular, is almost always called out as one of the best souls like games ever made, but it’s locked to PlayStation and doesn’t show up in PC charts.
So, PC charts show us which games are big overall, but they probably underestimate console-heavy games like Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne.
Are these sources actually trustworthy?
You asked about source authenticity, so let’s be clear.
Not all stats sites are equal, but some are basically industry standard now.
- SteamDB and SteamCharts pull their numbers from Steam’s own public APIs and are widely used by journalists, developers, and players to track concurrent players and peaks.
- News outlets like PC Gamer and Gamereactor are long-running editorial sites with named writers and clear sourcing. When they say “Nightreign passed 2 million players in 24 hours”, they’re either using official publisher numbers or direct platform data.
- Extra estimates like “around 2.1M copies sold on Steam” for Lies of P come from analytics platforms that combine public data with market models. They’re still estimates, but they’re useful for ballpark scale.
In short, the ranking here uses numbers from SteamDB / SteamCharts as the backbone, then checks those against what big gaming sites and industry reports are saying.
Final verdict
If we put everything together – concurrent player stats, long-term activity, and how the press and community talk about them – the current heavy hitters look like this:
- Nightreign and the base Elden Ring are right at the top. They have the strongest mix of raw players and hype.
- Black Myth: Wukong and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers show that non-FromSoftware studios can pull huge soulslike launches too.
- Lies of P, Dark Souls III, Sekiro, Dark Souls Remastered, Nioh 2, and Lords of the Fallen fill out the rest of the top 10 souls like games with strong, steady communities.
So if you’re trying to decide what to play next, you can safely treat this list as a real snapshot of what people are actually playing in 2025, not just what sounds cool in a headline.
FAQs
Which Soulslike is best for beginners?
If you want to get into soulslikes in 2025:
- Elden Ring is surprisingly friendly because you can explore elsewhere when you get stuck.
- Lies of P and Nioh 2 are tougher but have good build options if you like experimenting.
- Dark Souls Remastered is good if you want to understand where it all started, but it’s more old-school in its design.
What’s the hardest Soulslike right now?
This is always a bit subjective, but:
- Sekiro is often called the hardest because you can’t overlevel to fix your mistakes. You have to learn the timing.
- Some people also put certain bosses in Black Myth: Wukong and Lies of P up there in terms of difficulty spikes.
Do I have to play Dark Souls before Elden Ring?
No. You’ll catch more references if you already know Dark Souls, but Elden Ring and Nightreign work fine on their own.
If you end up loving them and want more, then going back to Dark Souls III or Dark Souls Remastered makes a lot of sense.
