Newly released PS5 mountaineering game Cairn looks to have made a strong start to life sales-wise, with developer The Game Bakers confirming it's sold over 200,000 copies since launch last week.
It released on 29th January 2026, meaning the milestone has been reached in just four days. "We couldn’t be happier to have welcomed 200,000 climbers to the mountain over the weekend," the team said on Bluesky in celebration.
"Cairn is a great climbing simulator, one that presents you with an entire mountain and complete freedom to traverse it as you please," we wrote in our Cairn PS5 review. "Some light survival mechanics apply just enough pressure to push you forward, and the purposely slow pace encourages careful climbing and proper planning." Unfortunately, the PS5 version does suffer from frame rate drops, so it sounds like PC is the best place to play this one.
Still, with performance patches surely on the way, Cairn has made a strong start to life. It could be one of the indie scene's standout titles come the end of 2026 if it carries on like this. Have you been playing Cairn? Share your first thoughts in the comments below.
[source bsky.app]
Comments 9
You'd be a gorm for not playing Cairn.
Removed - unconstructive feedback
I had an absolute blast with it over the weekend, similar to the other comment, 7/10!?!
I really don't get performance issues in indies. Annoying. Another game called I Hate This Place also had performance issues from what I see in reviews.
If I didn't have Nioh 3 (and of course RE9) on order, I would probz give this a go. Will add to list though.
I'll get it as soon as the performance improves. Game looked very promising from the moment I saw it, glad it's doing well.
This is a game I didn’t have much interest in when it was revealed, but the favorable reception has me curious.
It seems we’ve had a mini-explosion of this type of hiking/climbing sim — Jusant, Baby Steps, of course Death Stranding, and now Cairn. I know these are all very different games, but in my mind there’s some common theme of the mountaineering aspects. I really liked DS, but haven’t played any of these other more hard-core climbing and hiking sims, but I’m interested enough to keep an open mind.
Yet you gave it 7/10. Finger on the pulse as ever.
I’m playing on PS5 Pro and whilst there are some frame drops here and there, it’s nothing particularly egregious. Bear in mind you can effectively zoom out on the entire mountain to check your route at any time and there’s a lot of draw distance too.
Regardless, this is one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. 10/10 material and I can’t stop thinking about it.
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