Shrek 2 Remastered was supposed to be an easy nostalgia win. Instead, the first few days on Steam have been rough, and the reviews show it.
Aspyr’s remaster launched on November 10, 2026. It opened at around 47% positive and has already slipped to 43%, firmly in Mixed territory. For a remake of one of the most loved licensed games of the PS2 era, that is a painful start.
The Epic Games account problem
The biggest complaint is one PC players have heard before: online co-op requires an Epic Games account, even if you bought the game on Steam. Local co-op works without it, but anyone who wants to team up with a friend over the internet has to sign up for a second launcher service first.
We understand why publishers lean on Epic Online Services for crossplay and matchmaking. Making it mandatory in a family-friendly co-op game that people bought on Steam still feels like an extra hoop nobody asked for. It also lands hardest on the exact audience this remaster is aimed at: parents playing with their kids and friends revisiting a childhood favourite.
Broken cutscenes and “remastered” visuals
The account requirement is not the only issue. Players are also reporting:
- Broken cutscenes, including stutter and playback problems during story scenes
- Performance issues on PC setups that should run the game easily
- Visuals that barely look better than the original PS2 release, which is a tough look for a product sold as a remaster
That last point seems to drive a lot of the negative reviews. People forgive a few launch bugs. Paying full price for something that looks almost the same as a 20-year-old game is harder to forgive.
Player numbers are modest
Our DreamWorks Shrek 2 Remastered player count page shows how small the launch has been on Steam:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| All-time peak | 2,109 (launch day, Nov 10, 2026) |
| 24-hour peak | 846 |
| Playing at time of writing | 260 |
| Steam rating | 43%, Mixed |
| Price | $29.99 (currently $26.99 with 10% off) |
One bright spot: the game is Steam Deck Verified, so if you just want to play it handheld and offline, it should run fine.
Our take
A Shrek 2 remaster should be a slam dunk. The original is still one of the best co-op licensed games ever made. If Aspyr can patch the cutscenes, improve performance and drop the Epic account requirement, this can still turn around, as plenty of rocky launches have been saved by patches. For now, we would wait for fixes, or at least a deeper sale, before buying.
You can follow the game’s player count and review trend on our Shrek 2 Remastered Steam chart, or see how other new releases are doing on Trending on Steam.
