A tongue-in-cheek Tarkov send-up just turned into a serious Steam success.
Escape from Duckov, a PvE top-down looter-shooter from Team Soda, stormed out of its October 16, 2025 launch and cleared the half-million mark within its first weekend.
The spike in attention was reflected in its player count, which climbed high enough to land it among Steam’s biggest shooters for a short while.
It’s a pretty simple loop: drop in with nothing, grab what you can, fix up your base, then try to survive long enough to escape.
Why Do Players Say It Feels So Refreshing?
The tone flips from military grit to silly chaos, with ducks and weird factions bickering and fighting each other while still keeping that extract-or-lose tension alive.
Players coming from other top-down extraction games often call Duckov more approachable.
Recoil is manageable to control, the 2.5D view adds depth, and the fixed layouts make routes and sightlines easy to learn.
However, bosses still demand respect, with some encounters capable of ending a run in a blink if you misjudge positioning or push too hard.
Does Duckov Have Any Major Flaws?
However, the design has become a point of debate among those studying the game closely.
One camp says gear loss hits too hard because top-tier items aren’t easily purchased or crafted, so a death can feel like losing hours of progress.
They also argue that using both carry-weight limits and inventory slots makes movement penalties feel heavy and that long-range weapons need a tuning pass.
Others argue that the risk of losing gear is what makes extraction games exciting.
They believe that smart timing on heals, peeks, and dodges will always beat raw stats, and that encumbrance matters less as you level up, get better gear, and learn to stash heavy items safely.
Both perspectives can be true depending on experience level.
How Does It Perform Across Different Devices?
The lack of native controller support at launch is a notable downside for those on Steam Deck or using living-room setups.
The community has workarounds via custom inputs and mods, and some report acceptable Deck play with tweaked layouts, but most agree it’s not ideal yet.
That note matters because players who enjoy short, repeatable runs also prefer handheld comfort, and proper gamepad support could turn many wishlists into purchases.
Even with that gap, the game still holds a very positive reception, and the studio is celebrating while promising updates that meet player expectations.
Duckov drew more players than some headline PC titles, showing that fun ideas still drive success.
If you frame the story as more than a novelty, the angle writes itself. Duckov captures the spirit of extraction through preparation and skill without turning it into a PvP struggle.
It affirms that some players prefer skill-based PvE raids and clear progression systems over the tension of open PvP. For now, the facts speak for themselves.
It sold half a million units in no time, shot to the top of Steam, got players joking and dissecting its every detail, and proved that a parody can still pull off a major win.
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