Escape from Duckov Surges Past 200,000 Players in Days—And Every One’s a Heavily Armed Duck

Escape from Duckov isn’t just another extraction shooter fighting for player attention; it’s a full-blown duck invasion. Within five days of launch, this bizarre, feather-fueled PvE hit from Team Soda has soared beyond 221,963 concurrent players on Steam, landing it in the global top sellers list, nestled neatly behind Battlefield 6 and Counter Strike 2.

If you haven’t been watching the Steam charts, Duckov flapped in out of nowhere and is now utterly dominating. That makes it the newest, and arguably quirkiest, contender in a genre already packed with heavyweight names like Escape from Tarkov, Arc Raiders, and Marathon.

Duck with a Gun? Welcome to the Weirdest Extraction Shooter Yet

Here’s the premise: you’re not some grizzled mercenary or sci-fi soldier. In Duckov, you’re a duck. So is everyone else. And these ducks? They’re armed to the beak, packing guns, knives, and apparently zero hesitation about gunning (or pecking) down their fellow mallards for loot.

The gameplay sticks close to the extraction shooter formula. You and your squad of waterfowl comb through the map, hoarding whatever loot you can get your webbed feet on. Make it to the extraction point without getting wasted, and it’s all yours. But die, and every shiny object you risked it all for is gone in an instant.

This fresh spin, tough, loot-driven PvE, but with cartoon birds, is giving players something new to squawk about as they wait for big releases like Tarkov’s Steam debut (coming up in November) or the next tests for Arc Raiders and Marathon. As for the title, Duckov is an irreverent wink at those genre giants. “Escape from Duckov” riffs off “Escape from Tarkov,” the game that basically codified the modern extraction craze.

Steam Charts, Duck Stats, and Rapid Growth

Duckov first waddled onto Steam on October 16. Its meteoric rise started immediately, with a peak of roughly 61,000 players after the first 24 hours. That number tripled in short order. As of this writing, the game’s pulled in over 221,000 concurrent players. That means it’s now resting in the top three on the global Steam best-sellers list, outpacing dozens of triple-A action titles. Not bad for a game literally about ducks in combat helmets.

It’s still in early days, but that’s explosive growth by any standard, not least for a title with a modest price tag of $15.83 / £15.83 / €15.83.

While Escape from Duckov’s PvE formula means it isn’t a direct rival to Tarkov or the incoming cycles from Arc Raiders and Marathon, there’s no question it’s ruffling feathers among fans. The timing is impeccable, a period packed with new server slams (Arc Raiders just finished theirs), technical tests (Marathon’s is up next), and heavy anticipation for Tarkov’s own Steam release. Duckov slipped into that gap, then promptly exploded.

Team Soda, the Bilibili-backed studio behind the project, seems to have tapped into a perfect blend of parody and plain, addictive fun. The premise is silly, yet the gameplay asks you to take real risks. The result is a community that’s growing as fast as any loot pile left behind by a downed waterfowl out in the map. Whether Duckov can swim with the big sharks, or just keep dunking on the sales charts as other shooters vie for attention, remains to be seen. One thing is clear: extraction games just got a lot more bizarre, and the bar for getting noticed now starts with arming your ducks.