MiSide is an anime horror game created by two Russian developers from the AIHASTO studio and published in most markets by IndieArk*. The game quickly became an indie hit.
MiSide
Let's start with the plot. In MiSide, the main character gets trapped inside his favorite video game and finds himself stuck with one of its characters—a seemingly sweet girl named Mita, who has gained control over the virtual world. As is typical of horror, things are not as perfect as they seem. Mita doesn't want to let the hero go back, and when he tries to escape, she turns into a maniac.
MiSide was released on December 11, 2024, on Steam. At the time of writing, it had received 29,500 reviews, 98% of which were positive. According to Steam Scout, almost half of the reviews (45.3%) were written in Simplified Chinese. Another 31.3% of the reviews were in Russian, and 14.6% in English.
MiSide also has impressive online statistics. According to SteamDB, it had a peak concurrent player count of 23,741. Over the past four days, the number has remained around the same level, suggesting that MiSide might break its own record during the winter holidays. Notably, the anime horror game has surpassed almost all games published by IndieArk in terms of online numbers, with only Backpack Battles achieving a higher count at 36,557 concurrent players.
MiSide Online in Steam
Thanks to its warm reception, MiSide managed to secure the 45th spot on the Steam revenue chart for December 10-17. The following week, it moved up to 21st place, or 12th if excluding all free-to-play games and the Steam Deck from the ranking.
AIHASTO and IndieArk have not yet officially disclosed MiSide’s sales figures. However, according to VG Insights, the anime horror game has grossed $9.5 million with 878,000 copies sold. The service Gamalytic estimates slightly lower figures—$8.7 million and 716,200 copies sold. Regardless, these numbers are impressive for a game developed by just two people.
*In Japan, the publisher is listed as the film company Shochiku.