The Ascent

We picked The Ascent up day one in July 2021, right when Neon Giant's indie debut hit Game Pass. The house was transfixed by those neon-soaked visuals—every pixel felt intentional, like walking through a cyberpunk fever dream. But here's where it got messy: co-op was supposed to work for four players, and it just... didn't. We streamed through the frustration alongside the chat, watching these gorgeous environments reveal broken netcode. The dual-reality aesthetic kept us hooked even as the grind dragged on. That 49.5 hours we spent in the Arcology felt longer because half the time we were troubleshooting multiplayer connections. Still, the gunplay was solid, and for a 12-person studio's first shot, it punched above its weight. The house documented a game that looked like the future but shipped like an early access title.

We brought 1,319 peak viewers to that July 2021 launch day, averaging 425 viewers across nearly 50 hours. The 24,262 hours watched tells the story—people couldn't look away from those visuals even with the technical chaos. That follower bump of 923 proved the community was curious about Neon Giant's world despite the rough edges.