Professional Fishing

Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.

Mixed · 61%Mixed · 61%2018

Free to play

US Steam price, checked 5 h ago

The verdict

A free-to-play online fishing sim with pretty lakes and realistic fish, but grindy and buggy, and many Russian-speaking players can't get past the lobby. Skip it if you want polish or a tutorial.

Great for

Casual anglers who want a free, relaxing fishing game to play with friends

Main risk

Can't enter locations or stuck on endless loading, plus grind and bugs

What players love

Free to play without being pay to win

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews

“the game is NOT pay to win, VIP is what they provide some decent perks like discount on the items to buy”
Steam review · 44.4 h played ↗

“There is NO donation-only tackle; everything sold in bundles can be bought with in-game currency.”
Steam review · translated · 66.5 h played ↗

“I just hit lvl 8 and don't feel like I have to spend any money in the game, in order to have fun and enjoy my time”
Steam review · 15.4 h played ↗

Beautiful graphics and scenery

Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews

“I really liked the game, everything is believable and the landscapes are beautiful.”
Steam review · translated · 14.4 h played ↗

“one of the best by far water is seamless and the fish look real!”
Steam review · 318.6 h played ↗

Relaxing multiplayer with friends

Mentioned in ~1 in 10 positive reviews

“It is fun and relaxing at the same time. Perfect game for chatting while playing.”
Steam review · 18.1 h played ↗

“It's more fun playing with someone, but if you want to play it alone it can be extremely relaxing.”
Steam review · 35.7 h played ↗

Realistic fish behavior and fighting

Mentioned in ~1 in 12 positive reviews

“they are attacking to lures and baits like real fishes, and each and every of those fishes are acting differently, like real fishes do.”
Steam review · 29.6 h played ↗

“you CAN catch big fish on lighter gear (to a certain point)”
Steam review · 64.2 h played ↗

Many lakes, gear, boats and features

Mentioned in ~1 in 12 positive reviews

“being able to get an ATV and travel the map, set your tent and sleep in it, or even take the boat for a ride”
Steam review · 25.2 h played ↗

“The game has a big variety of rods and fish. Addictive.”
Steam review · translated · 23.7 h played ↗

What players complain about

Can't enter locations or endless loading

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews

“I choose a lake and can't enter. There are two buttons, ENTER and EXIT, and only EXIT works.”
Steam review · translated · 0.1 h played ↗

“Of 17 minutes of play, I spent all 17 looking at a black loading screen with a spinning circle.”
Steam review · translated · 0.3 h played ↗

“it never finished loading... then when I try to exit the game, it will not let me get to the menu so I have to force close it.”
Steam review · 0.8 h played ↗

Grind and monetization pressure

Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews

“Every single aspect of the game is designed to incite you to put real money in it.”
Steam review · 20.4 h played ↗

“you can even use money to set weather and time of the day, which is ridiculous in a fishing game”
Steam review · 2.3 h played ↗

No tutorial and confusing controls

Mentioned in ~1 in 13 negative reviews

“no tutorial on how to work the lure fishing. I have to not recommend this game.”
Steam review · 3.7 h played ↗

“I have no idea how to equip the new gear because pressing and clicking did nothing apart from my line”
Steam review · 0.6 h played ↗

Buggy fish and net handling

Mentioned in ~1 in 14 negative reviews

“Fishing rod bugs very often. It happens when you catch fish, it gets stuck and the game doesn't allow you to just drop the fish or change the tool you're using”
Steam review · 1.8 h played ↗

“you get a 2.5kg fish and try to put it into the net and it chucks it about 3 foot away from the net into the water.”
Steam review · 3.4 h played ↗

Purchases and VIP not delivered, no support

Mentioned in ~1 in 15 negative reviews

“I have paid VIP 12 euros, never got it in game. Wrote a ticket to support of Professional Fishing. Today is 5th day of my ticket without any response whatsoever.”
Steam review · 12.8 h played ↗

“Today I log in and all progress is reset, no premium, inventory empty.”
Steam review · translated · 4.6 h played ↗

Russian players say region is shadow-banned

Mentioned in ~1 in 21 negative reviews

“The authors sent the RU segment to a shadow ban.”
Steam review · translated · 9.8 h played ↗

“It’s impossible to enter any location.”
Steam review · 0.1 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Playable

Minimum

OSWindows 7/8/8.1/10 (x64 x86)

ProcessorCore i5 / Ryzen 5

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsGeforce GTX 660 2GB or equivalent

Storage9 GB available space

Recommended

OSWindows 7/8/8.1/10 (x64 x86)

ProcessorCore i5 / Ryzen 5

Memory8 GB RAM

GraphicsGeforce GTX 970 4GB or equivalent

Storage9 GB available space

OSWindows 7/8/8.1/10 (x64 x86)

ProcessorCore i5 / Ryzen 5

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsGeforce GTX 660 2GB or equivalent

Storage9 GB available space

More games to check

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−20%

Voodoo Fishin'

Very Positive · 81%

+ Fun with friends

− Punishing gear loss on death

analyzed 4 d ago

Cat Goes Fishing

Very Positive · 94%

+ Relaxing, charming and cozy

− Bugs, softlocks and lost saves

analyzed 5 d ago

Villagers and Heroes

Mixed · 55%

+ Deep crafting, gathering and farming

− Aggressive cash shop and pay-to-win

analyzed 8 d ago

Ultimate Fishing Simulator®

Very Positive · 89%

+ Relaxing, cozy atmosphere

− Unrealistic fish fights and broken drag

analyzed 10 d ago

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