Live action dating sim Superscout is an instant hit on Steam 

Although only just released on July 18, live action dating game Superscout has already been bombarded with positive reviews on Steam and has reached a high of 5,385 concurrent players. The latest PC game from Chinese developer Mountain & Sea Studio, it is available in five languages including English, and has been praised for its beautiful heroines, compelling story and slightly NSFW scenes. 

Superscout is an interactive, live action romance game in which you play as male protagonist Shuai Ge. As the title suggests, you are a talent scout. However, due to past events that will become clear as you play the game, you made a deal with the god of entertainment to make you a Superscout. As a Superscout, you can recognize each heroine’s star qualities and help them blossom into top entertainers. The downside is that the god takes any money that you make in exchange for your superpower.  

Fortunately, the beautiful heroines of the game don’t care about your finances. The game has a variety of girls that you can get to know and romance. There’s Zhou Yang- a big star who is the protagonist’s first love and the reason he made a deal with god. There’s also a cute game streamer, your determined childhood friend, a former idol group member, and a physicist who loves dressing up in historical Chinese clothing. Players increase their likeability rating with the characters and seek to make them more famous to move the story forward.  

Superscout became an instant success upon launch, reaching a peak of 5,385 players on its first day. Since then, it has achieved at least 5000 concurrent players per day. At the time of writing, Superscout has an Overwhelmingly Positive review rating on Steam (95% of the 824 user reviews are positive). Players praised the cute heroines, well-filmed scenes and engaging storylines. The majority of reviews (814) are in (simplified Mandarin) Chinese- the game seems to be very highly evaluated among Chinese-speaking users. Of all the girls in the game, Ye Shu (pictured at the top of this article) seems to be the most popular with reviewers. 

Superscout’s popularity and positive reviews seem to be influenced by a recent “live action romance game” boom in China. For example, in 2023, intiny released the FMV romance game Love is All Around, which attracted tens of thousands of concurrent Steam players each day and was highly rated. The popularity of the genre seems to be aided by web dramas, and it seems that Superscout is finding its audience among a similar demographic. It should be noted that Superscout’s English translation can feel a bit unnatural in parts- however the visuals and story remain enjoyable. 

Superscout is available on PC (Steam), with an introductory 10% discount until August 2, 2024. There is also a free demo version. 

Written by. Verity Townsend based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2024-07-20 16:21 JST)