NetEase's upcoming third-person shooter, Once Human, boasts over 15 million global pre-registrations, a testament to its success at Steam Next Fest. However, a closer look reveals a significant difference between its mobile and PC performance. While pre-registrations are impressive, only 300,000 of these are Steam wishlists. This highlights the disparity between mobile and PC gaming markets, with mobile consistently demonstrating greater reach and discoverability.
NetEase's PC-first approach for Once Human, while ambitious, underscores the challenges even major developers face in achieving comparable PC success to their mobile counterparts. The game's popularity on Steam is undeniable, attracting a large number of demo players during Next Fest, but the sheer volume of mobile pre-registrations remains striking.

While NetEase's strategy isn't inherently flawed, the data points to a considerable difference in audience reach and discoverability between the two platforms. For those anticipating Once Human's release, exploring our curated lists of the best and most anticipated mobile games of 2024 might provide some engaging alternatives in the interim. These lists feature hand-picked titles representing the cream of the mobile gaming crop.