*Probably Stolen – Cyberpunk Shopkeeper Sim* launched on Steam on October 28, and it has been a very big week for a small shop sim. Automaton reports an all-time concurrent peak of 164,471 players, citing SteamDB, and says the game sold 350,000 copies on its first day.
The better story is where it started. Automaton says the game began life under a different name with a demo that peaked at just 28 concurrent players, and that publisher tinyBuild's rework is what changed its fortunes. That origin story, the sales and the player figures are one outlet's report: Xarmo couldn't check the SteamDB figures or the post from tinyBuild's CEO directly, and couldn't find a second outlet confirming them, so they are relayed here through Automaton. PC Gamer does back up the broad shape of the late surge, as covered below.
From Deepspace Emporium to Probably Stolen
The game's Steam page lists Questing Goose Studio as developer and tinyBuild as publisher. According to Automaton, Questing Goose first worked on the project as *Deepspace Emporium*, which already had some of the core pieces: the dystopian space station, the shopkeeping and the questionable choices you make while conducting business. A demo came out in 2025 and reached that peak of 28, Automaton reports, again citing SteamDB.
Tiny as that audience was, tinyBuild CEO Alex Nichiporchik says the idea was worth backing. Automaton quotes his October 29 post on X: "We loved the concept and gameplay, and worked with the dev to reinvent the visuals and focus on what works design wise. This is the result." Automaton says tinyBuild liked the concept and gameplay enough, despite the low player count, to reach out to Questing Goose for a publishing deal.
The original hasn't quite vanished, either. Automaton notes that *Deepspace Emporium* can still be found on Steam with a release date slated for this year.
This account comes from the publisher's side. Automaton's report doesn't include Questing Goose's own version of how the work was divided, so how much of the change came from either party isn't clear.
How the launch went
Automaton reports that a *Probably Stolen* demo arrived in September, a month before release, and was played by more than 700,000 people with over 98% positive reviews. PC Gamer reported on October 21 that the demo was charting on Steam's 100 most-played games list with 34,230 concurrent players during Steam Next Fest.
The launch figures come from Automaton alone. It reports that on its first day the full game amassed 112,000 concurrent players and became one of the top 15 most-played games on Steam, and it gives the all-time peak of 164,471 from SteamDB.
Reviews remain strongly positive. Automaton counted 96% positive from 6,180 Steam reviews. The Steam page, read on November 4, shows an Overwhelmingly Positive rating of 97% from about 2,600 English reviews.
What you actually do in it
Steam describes a cyberpunk shopkeeping simulator set on a dystopian space station, where you craft, trade and smuggle goods of questionable origin while navigating faction loyalties.
Automaton says you play a former scavenger turned shopkeeper trying to earn a living and pay the rent, with a choice of specializations: gunsmith, chemist, water merchant, fence or farmer, or building up from rock bottom. Selling certain sketchy items requires permits and mods, it adds, and brings routine inspections of your inventory from law enforcement. Automaton also lists haggling, an appraisal system for authenticating goods and production chain management. Steam's page carries a warning that the game depicts drug abuse, alcohol abuse and crimes such as bribery.
What's next
Automaton says the game is available on Windows through Steam, and the store page shows an introductory 10% discount running until November 11. Neither Automaton's report nor the Steam page sets out a confirmed next step, such as console versions or a roadmap, and no future for *Deepspace Emporium* under its old name has been spelled out beyond that Steam listing.
Finn's take: Twenty-eight players is about one decent family barbecue, and I suspect plenty of publishers would have kept scrolling. I'd be careful about turning this into a tidy makeover fable, because a marketing machine and a good release window can flatter any before-and-after. Still, on the publisher's own telling, somebody looked at a near-empty player graph and saw a game in there.
Reporting notes
