Czech historical game in the top 10 in the world. The sales of Last Train Home exceeded the expectations of the creators from Brno

Czech video games can also score points in the world. But for them to make their way among the world’s best-selling titles – or to succeed in Japan – is not so common anymore. A historical game Last Train Home from in-house developers at Ashborne Studios has done just that. The strategy telling the story of Czechoslovak legionnaires in Russia is having an extremely successful premiere.

Steam, the largest online store for PC games, regularly releases sales statistics. Among the world’s most successful video games for the past week, you will also find a Czech one Last Train Home. It was released on Tuesday, November 28, and in the period from its launch until the following Tuesday, December 5, it was ranked seventh in sales on the popular platform.

The lucky seven belongs to him among paid games (and the Steam Deck console in first place, otherwise Steam also includes free titles in its ranking, for example the popular online shooter Counter-Strike. V overall global overview the game from the Brno studio Ashborne Games is on an even respectable twelfth place. It probably goes without saying that in the Czech Republic, the historical strategy is the unequivocal number one.

“In terms of sales, this is higher than tens of thousands of copies in the first week, which is a very promising start,” studio representative Dominik Jícha approximates the degree of success for CzechCrunch. “The greatest interest is traditionally from the United States. In second place is Germany, where there is a very strong community of strategy game players and we also have the strength of our publisher THQ Nordic here.” clarifies.

And the Czech Republic? “We are very pleased that it is in third place. This was to be expected considering the background of the studio and the theme of the game, but even so, in the context of the overall size of the market, this is a perfect result.” adds the marketing manager. The result is not only perfect, but also somewhat surprising. “The reception to Last Train Home has exceeded our expectations. Being in the top ten on Steam is an important milestone for us and a major step forward in our premiere in the field of strategy games with a new brand.” adds Jícha.

Last Train Home it is the first game of a relatively young studio, which, however, was founded by veterans of video game development mainly from the well-known company Bohemia Interactive. “We are extremely pleased with the feedback from the players, journalists, colleagues, families and friends who have boarded Last Train Home and are experiencing the journey of the Czechoslovak legions together with us. We are very happy that a very positive impression prevails and that people from all over the world appreciate the story we have presented.” says company boss Petr Kolář.

For example, the Legionnaire strategy left behind even the Polish megahit in the weekly chart Cyberpunk 2077, which has been hit by a big wave of renewed interest in recent weeks thanks to the newly released expansion and updates with lots of new content. Success also contributed to sales Last Train Home among early players and reviewers. On the server Metacriticwhich collects reviews from all over the world, the game keeps a high score 83 they stand. It has positive reviews on Steam 85 percent users.

The fact that it is an international success is also evidenced by one rather unexpected source of foreign popularity. “We were surprised by the upsurge of interest in our game from Japan. In this regard, remote participation at the Tokyo Games Show in September helped us a lot, when we were approached by the Czech Center there and we secured participation in the conference and exhibition of the Czech Embassy.” explains Jícha.

The game relies on a high degree of historical authenticity, and the association of the Czechoslovak legionary community also took part in its creation. Just from the true story of legionnaires in Russia after the First World War Last Train Home comes out. Due to the geopolitical situation, Czech and Slovak soldiers had to go to the young Czechoslovakia in an eastern direction via the Trans-Siberian highway to Vladivostok.

Players in Last Train Home they control the legionnaires in tactical battles, in the strategic part of the game they take care of their soldiers, their equipment and weapons and the armored train. In CzechCrunche’s first impressions from playing Last Train Home one could not resist a favorable comparison with, for example, Commandos or frost point. The experience of Last Train Home they also add action scenes with Karel Dobrý in the main role of a legionnaire officer or an informative encyclopedia.

The work of the Brno developers was published on Steam a and GOGu for a price of 40 euros (roughly 950 crowns), it is now also available on the first-named platform for a similar price in the package with an award-winning degree This War of Mine from Polish 11 bit studios. It shows the miseries and horrors of war from the point of view of civilians. “It is a great honor for us. We believe that both titles fit well with each other with their out-of-game overlap.” concludes Jícha.