Rivaling The Forest and Rust, Steam hidden gem Soulmask gets big, free DLC

If you want to lose yourself in a survival game, the surface-level pitch for Soulmask is pretty irresistible: the world is massive, you can create custom buildings, and developer Campfire promises a play time of some 500 hours. Heck, even the free demo, released at the top of 2024, was 40 hours long. Despite ‘very positive’ Steam reviews, however, the initial fervor around Soulmask has died off a little. At peak, it pulled in more than 45,000 concurrent players - right now, it’s still doing admirably, but the simultaneous player base averages around 3,000. An alternative spin on the genre pioneered by Rust, The Forest, and The Long Dark, if you want a unique, hidden-gem survival game, Soulmask is mounting a resurgence with new, free DLC.