What is Goose Goose Duck? Why the game has gone viral in 2023

Goose Goose Duck launched in 2021 with middling success. Two years later, the social deduction game is the third most-played game on Steam. Here’s everything you need to know about the wacky spin on Among Us and how it took over mainstream gaming.

Every once in a while, a unique and obscure video game unexpectedly blows up in popularity. In the summer of 2022, Fall Guys skyrocketed in popularity after previously struggling to make waves. In 2020, Among Us saw an increase of 132,000 players in just one month. Unfortunately, both games came back to Earth after dominating, but they served as examples of what’s possible in today’s video game landscape.

All it takes is one viral clip or influencer to boost a game’s popularity exponentially. When Goose Goose Duck first launched in 2021, the game averaged under 1,000 players, and in 2022, that number slightly increased into the thousands.

Out of nowhere, over the last 30 days, Goose Goose Duck achieved a peak player count of 701,898, according to Steam Charts. Korean Pop (K-pop) fans have proven to be among the most passionate fandoms out there, and their loyalty directly correlates with the meteoric rise of Goose Goose Duck.

What is Goose Goose Duck?

Goose Goose Duck is a role-playing mystery game created by Gaggle Studios in which players work together and complete tasks while trying to sniff out the imposters, who work together and attempt to take out every player without being caught.

Imposters win by eliminating a majority of the players, and they lose by getting voted out or if the opposing team completes every task. Every decision is made through using proximity chat.

Why is the game so popular?

In November 2002, Korean Pop star Kim Taehyung started streaming Goose Goose Duck on Weverse. Goose Goose Duck peaked at 6,056 players in October and jumped to a peak of 414,978 in December, according to Steam Charts.

The BTS member played a massive role in the influx of new players, and Gaggle issued a response to the rise in popularity on Steam.

“We appreciate all the love and support,” the developer said in a post on Steam, “we expected a large increase in players but not like this. 250k increase of our already massive player base was too much. We’re working on increasing capacity as fast as we can and will keep everyone updated. We apologize for the inconvenience, we’re all working hard to make sure everyone can play.”

It depends on when you check Steam Charts, but Goose Goose Duck reached the third most-played game on Steam, surpassing titles such as Apex Legends, PUBG, GTA V, and Modern Warfare 2.

The social deduction game’s resounding success serves as yet another example of a small developer receiving much-deserved attention, and hopefully, this trend continues.