LOS ANGELES, Jan 17 — Space exploration game Astroneer is propelled to the top of Steam’s best-seller chart, while oceangoing survival simulation Raft is in top spot on Itch.io come January 16, 2017.

Astroneer ownership increased among Steam users by 20 per cent over the last week, according to stat tracking service SteamSpy, while recent gameplay videos from popular YouTubers Markiplier, Ssundee and Jack Septic Eye all surpassed 1 million views.

Still in active development, its studio supplied a stability patch on January 10 and is working towards adding various new features over the next two years or so (blog.astroneer.space/p/roadmap.)

Jack Septic Eye has also been featuring an early version of Raft in an ongoing series, as has a global community of YouTubers including Spaniard Willyrex, Russia’s EugeneSagaz, Brazilian Godenot, the UK’s Zerkaa and Italian-speaker Gabby16bit.

It’s a survival simulation in the vein of Stranded Deep, Salt or the more exclusively land-based Minecraft, except there is no island to explore, only a four-panel expandable raft, a hook, numerous pieces of debris floating past, and a hungry shark circling.

Free from itch.io, its small, three-person team is accepting donations and hopes to work on the game full-time from mid-2017. — AFP-Relaxnews