Chaos;Head Noah Fan Patch Results in Over Double Amount of Concurrent Steam Players Compared to Launch

The enhanced edition of the Science Adventure franchise’s first visual novel, Chaos;Head Noah, recently received a significant patch from the fan group Committee of Zero that quite literally overhauled just about everything the title is comprised of. From bugs and mistranslations to even untranslated images, countless errors were resolved, making this the definitive way to experience the series’ debut.

• Check out our review of Chaos;Head Noah.
• Chaos;Head Noah Adds Steam Trading Cards, Backgrounds, Emotes & Badges

However, what is also of note is how much this patch has increased the game’s concurrent player count. When looking at Steam Database, Chaos;Head Noah’s initial launch by publisher Spike Chunsoft only had up to 96 users playing the game at once. Then, roughly one month after release day, that number dwindled to an average of 25, capping at 30, with the first days of January 2023 having seen a slight peak over that.

Now, following Committee of Zero’s overhaul patch, the number of concurrent players jumped up to a staggering 238. The fact that these fan efforts more than doubled the player count illustrates the sheer expectation placed on the table and how much fans were yearning for a refined Chaos;Head Noah experience. For reference, here’s the number of concurrent players in the past week:

Of course, visual novels aren’t exactly replayable once you’ve gone through their stories in full, so the decreased player count over the months makes sense. Still, considering how drastically higher the game’s player count was with the fan patch launch compared to the game’s initial release, it’s abundantly clear that the impact of these fans should not be understated.

It’s also worth emphasizing that the Steam release of Chaos;Head Noah is just one third of the pie, as it’s also available on PC via GOG and Nintendo Switch.

While I don’t own the title on Steam yet, I intend to purchase it the next time it goes on sale, simply so I can play through a version of Chaos;Head Noah that has not been significantly hampered. Although, this patch can work on the Nintendo Switch via custom firmware. For installation instructions regarding either platform, check out their website.

The Committee of Zero also announced that they will host a stream commemorating this patch’s launch and performing a Q&A on February 5, 2023, via their Twitch page.

Chaos:Head Noah can be seen as the director’s cut version of the original Chaos;Head which was a PC-only release in Japan. It expanded upon the story by adding routes for each of the heroines.

• Check out our beginner’s guide to the Science Adventure series.
• Anonymous;Code Western Release Announcement
• The Origins You Never Knew About Steins;Gate Protagonist Okabe Rintaro: Chaos;Gate
• The Steins;Gate Sequel You Never Heard Of: Steins;Gate: Variant Space Octet
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Ouroboros Designer Worked On Chaos;Head
• Robotics;Notes Manga Coming West 2023 via Udon Entertainment
• Robotics;Notes 10-Year Anniversary Illustration & Celebratory Main Theme Arrangement
• Steins;Gate Fan Patch Adds Old Japan-Only Cosplay Costumes
• Chaos;Head Visual Novel Openings Translated by Fans