Dressmaker: Kotaku feature on 23 September 2026 after Steam release

• IGN and Game Rant reported on 24 September that the game was performing strongly on Steam shortly after launch, with very positive user reviews and a high spot on the bestseller charts.
• Coverage describes Dressmaker as a cozy tailoring sim where you make clothes to match customer requests, with an emphasis on style, color, fabric, and finishing.

What happened

Kotaku published a feature by Rebekah Valentine on 23 September 2026 about Dressmaker. The piece frames the game as an indie project that will especially appeal to players who enjoy spending time on outfits, character creators, and putting clothing pieces together.

A day later, IGN and Game Rant reported that Dressmaker was doing well on Steam shortly after release. IGN said the game was sitting at No. 10 on Steam’s Top Sellers list at the time and had 96% positive reviews from 2,177 user ratings. Game Rant reported that the game had entered Steam’s global bestseller list within about three days of launch, briefly outranking major titles such as Diablo IV and, at one point, Marvel Rivals.

Across the coverage, the gameplay is described as a mix of measuring, buying fabric, cutting, sewing, and decorating. Kotaku also noted that customers mainly care whether their requests were followed: even a dress that looks messy can be well received if the style, color, and fabric match the order.

Background

Dressmaker is described in available sources as a cozy job sim or procedural tailoring simulation. The core loop involves taking commissions, measuring clients, choosing fabrics, cutting pieces, sewing them together, and then adding decorations.

External context identifies Cozy Lives as the developer and Free Lives as the publisher. That same context also mentions around 35 hours of story commissions, more than 150 dress pieces, 450 fabrics, and 350 accessories. Those figures do not come from the Kotaku feature itself, but they do provide extra context on the scale of the project.

Kotaku’s description also places Dressmaker in a light narrative setting centered on clothing for a duke’s funeral, where some characters want to mourn properly while others are trying to catch the attention of the duke’s only son. The available sources do not fully confirm every release and ranking detail, but they do paint a picture of a game that quickly gained visibility after its Steam launch.

Sources

• Kotaku feature on Dressmaker, published on 23 September 2026
• IGN, 24 September 2026: report on Steam Top Sellers and review score
• Game Rant, 24 September 2026: report on early Steam performance
• External context on release, developer/publisher, and content scope