# Webfishing
**WEBFISHING** is a multiplayer online casual fishing game developed and published by the indie developer lamedeveloper (West), released on Steam on October 11, 2024 for $4.99, in which players control anthropomorphic cat or dog avatars, catch fish on a small island, and socialize through built-in text chat.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/) • [2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/webfishing) The game describes itself as "a multiplayer chatroom-focused fishing game," and commentators have noted that the fishing is largely an excuse to hang out with strangers, functioning more like a chatroom with a rod than a fishing simulation.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/) • [3](https://www.slopranks.com/news/webfishing-is-a-chatroom)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Developer / publisher | lamedeveloper (West)[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/) |
| Release | October 11, 2024, Steam (Windows), $4.99[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/) |
| Genre | Casual, indie, massively multiplayer; single-player and online co-op[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/) |
| Content | Nearly 100 creatures to catch, 16 Steam achievements, character customization[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/) |
| Steam reception | Overwhelmingly Positive, 97% of about 50,000 English reviews[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/) |
| Peak concurrency | 23,966 simultaneous players (November 2024)[4](https://steamcharts.com/app/3146520) |
| Origin | Initial build released September 23, 2022 for the Cozy Autumn Jam[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/webfishing) |
## Gameplay
The core loop is deliberately simple. Instead of analog line control as in fishing simulators, the player holds the mouse and clicks rapidly at random points along a line to reel in a catch.[5](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/480764-webfishing/reviews/177911) The Steam page lists nearly 100 different creatures to catch, from snails to sharks, with a journal to complete, rare fish to find, and money to earn for baits, lures, rods, and cosmetics.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/)
**Social play is the design center.** Lobbies hold one to twelve players in the unmodified game, and offline play is supported even though community interaction is the main draw.[5](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/480764-webfishing/reviews/177911) Players customize their avatars, send letters with attached items, draw pictures with purchasable chalk, and play in-game instruments, a guitar and a tambourine, that other players can hear within a set proximity; the guitar can be driven by MIDI programs on the player's computer, which has produced impromptu concerts and collaborative jam sessions.[5](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/480764-webfishing/reviews/177911) • [6](https://screenwiseapp.com/guides/webfishing) Reviewers have repeatedly compared the result to [Animal Crossing](https://www.edgepedia.org/animal-crossing), with one Metacritic user review describing it as if the Animal Crossing characters "decided to go on a vacation to exclusively fish."[7](https://www.metacritic.com/game/webfishing/)
The game also includes a range of accessibility options, such as an autoclick toggle, a catch jingle toggle for players who want an audio cue while distracted, an alternate font, and chat filtering.[5](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/480764-webfishing/reviews/177911) • [8](https://steamcommunity.com/app/3146520/announcements/)
## Development and release
The initial build of Webfishing was released on September 23, 2022 by indie developer West, also known as lamedeveloper, for the Cozy Autumn Jam.[2](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/webfishing) In a patch note published on November 6, 2024, the developer explained that the groundwork was set up in 2023 for a few weeks and then finished in about four months, a total development time of roughly five months, and apologized that the launch product was rushed.[8](https://steamcommunity.com/app/3146520/announcements/)
A rapid series of patches followed the Steam launch: Patch 1.08 (October 16, 2024) enabled Steam Cloud support and added a "Griefable" option to opt out of being punched by other players; Patch 1.09 (November 6, 2024) reworked the save system with four save slots, five-minute autosaves, and a major internal network rework; Patch 1.10 (November 12, 2024) replaced the block options with a permanent "Block Player" cut of all connections; Patch 1.11 (December 31, 2024) reworked the lobby browser and replaced the 18+ toggle with new lobby types; and Patch 1.12 (January 1, 2025) fixed lobby and desync issues.[8](https://steamcommunity.com/app/3146520/announcements/)
## Reception
On Steam the game holds an Overwhelmingly Positive rating, with 97% of roughly 50,000 English-language user reviews positive.[1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/) Metacritic lists no critic reviews but a user score of 8.6 based on 29 ratings, in the "Generally Favorable" band.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/game/webfishing/) Reviewers praised the welcoming community, the cosmetics, the guitar implementation, the low price, and the small install size and low system requirements (minimum specifications list a 2 GHz processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 4 GB of storage), while criticizing bugs, grind, a small and same-y map, and eventual repetitiveness.[5](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/480764-webfishing/reviews/177911) • [1](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/)
## Player numbers
The game launched into a large audience and then declined steeply. SteamCharts records an all-time peak of 23,966 concurrent players in November 2024, with monthly averages of about 9,800 to 10,000 players in October and November 2024.[4](https://steamcharts.com/app/3146520) Average monthly concurrency then fell continuously, from 3,460 in December 2024 to 891 in March 2025, 653 in June 2025, and roughly 220 by mid-2026, with 24-hour peaks in the low hundreds.[4](https://steamcharts.com/app/3146520) A GameMapa comparison in August 2026 put WEBFISHING at 70,390 total Steam reviews with 97.3% positive, against 190 concurrent players at the time of reading.[9](https://gamemapa.com/en/how-to-fish/guides/how-to-fish-vs-webfishing/)
## Moderation and safety
The game's open social design carries safety trade-offs. Vice reported that the cutesy cartoon game developed NSFW issues, and the parent-focused site Screenwise notes that the game has essentially no moderation or safety features: lobbies can be marked "18+" or "Non-18+", but there is no age verification and anyone can join any lobby, and the game has no formal ESRB rating.[10](https://www.vice.com/en/article/cute-cartoon-game-about-fishing-webfishing-has-nsfw-issues/) • [6](https://screenwiseapp.com/guides/webfishing) There are no strict in-game censors, and moderation is left largely to lobby hosts, who can ban disruptive players from their own lobbies.[5](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/480764-webfishing/reviews/177911)
## References
1. [WEBFISHING on Steam, Valve / lamedeveloper](https://store.steampowered.com/app/3146520/WEBFISHING/)
2. [Webfishing, Know Your Meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/webfishing)
3. [WEBFISHING is not a game, it is a chatroom with a rod, Slopranks](https://www.slopranks.com/news/webfishing-is-a-chatroom)
4. [WEBFISHING on Steam Charts](https://steamcharts.com/app/3146520)
5. [WEBFISHING Review for PC: Man, I Love Fishing, GameFAQs](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/480764-webfishing/reviews/177911)
6. [Webfishing: Why This 'Animal Crossing' Lookalike Isn't Just for Kids, Screenwise](https://screenwiseapp.com/guides/webfishing)
7. [WEBFISHING Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/game/webfishing/)
8. [WEBFISHING patch notes, Steam Community announcements](https://steamcommunity.com/app/3146520/announcements/)
9. [How to Fish vs WEBFISHING: a comparison on Steam numbers, GameMapa](https://gamemapa.com/en/how-to-fish/guides/how-to-fish-vs-webfishing/)
10. [Cute Cartoon Game About Fishing, 'Webfishing,' Has NSFW Issues, Vice](https://www.vice.com/en/article/cute-cartoon-game-about-fishing-webfishing-has-nsfw-issues/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Video games and digital play › Games and gameplay › Individual game titles › Individual PC and computer-platform game titles › Simulation and management titles*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license