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Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord claims biggest Steam launch of year so far

Catapulted to success.

Almost eight years after it was first announced, Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord finally arrived via Steam Early Access yesterday.

The medieval action role-player is doing well, too. Developer Taleworlds has trumpeted some impressive concurrent player numbers - enough, it says, to make it Steam's biggest launch this year.

These numbers have only grown over the past day, with upwards of 200,000 people now playing at the time of writing.

If you're not familiar with Mount and Blade, it's a swords and shields battler with no fantasy elements where you build up an army of soldiers and go besiege castles.

Here's some guy named Chris Bratt having a look at it for Eurogamer nearly three years ago:

Cover image for YouTube video6 minutes of Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord Gameplay (Multiplayer)