Newsbrief: A whopping 3.5 million people have given Outriders a go since the game first launched back on April 1, prompting publisher Square Enix to anoint the series "the company's next big franchise" in a press release.

Square Enix shared the milestone alongside its latest patch notes and adds that the 3.5 million figure represents unique players across the game's first month, and includes an average playtime of over 30 hours.

It's always worth noting that players don't necessarily equal copies sold. In this particular case, Outriders launched as a premium, $59.99 game for current and last-gen platforms, but it's important to specify here that it also joined Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription library right on April 1 as well.

This means a chunk of those 3.5 million unique players likely came through Game Pass rather than through an outright purchase, though Square Enix doesn't offer specifics on that front. Even with the added boost from Game Pass' impressive reach, the company seems impressed with Outriders' reception (early server issues aside.)

"Launching an entirely new game IP is never easy and we remain very grateful for all your support and feedback – we are still here, are continuing to listen carefully and want to assure you all that we are committed to improving and enhancing your experience throughout the coming weeks and months," adds the Outriders team. "We're also looking forward to expanding Outriders in the future…"