Game dying already?

[Xendran]

The player numbers appear to be tanking fast. What is the problem? I know the game has alot of issues with disgustingly intrusive moderation, but overall the game is pretty decent. I guess I understand because the servers are pretty horrible

[Never care]

just admit it BFs are better

[Gym Leader Rory wants to battle!]

The game is starting to stabilize. I honestly wouldnt be suprised if we see a higher all time high once the game leaves early access. Alot of people swore off early access after games like RoK etc

[AEK_Enjoyer]

Originally posted by GamingWithSilvertail:

Originally posted by RaiNNNN:

Not many games become half of its peak players in just a month from its release . Player numbers decline for sure but not this fast.

This is incredible alse. Most games drop allready after a week.

Yes because most games releasing today are trash and miss all the essence that engage people to keep coming back. I am from the Battlefield 3,4 era and all of them hold solid playerbase for years. These days only a few games like that exist and you will mostly find them in the top played games in steamcharts. Games like csgo, pubg has been holding playerbase for years. PUBG's playercount peaked for continuously 2 years straight. Team fortress 2 sill holding players than most games and it is like 13 years old.

[AEK_Enjoyer]

Originally posted by Super Idol:

just admit it BFs are better

This game is nowhere near battlefield, even battlefield 2042 is really at a good spot now. I am just waiting for XDefiant, never bought this game because I knew it won't keep me engaged for long and it came out to be true, people are already leaving.

[Excirial]

Originally posted by RaiNNNN:

Not many games become half of its peak players in just a month from its release . Player numbers decline for sure but not this fast.

That's what i used to think myself, until i saw an argument about this some time ago and checked SteamCharts on some games myself.

A few examples:

Monster Hunter: World:
329,333 players on 2018-08-01, down to 122,588 on 2018-01-02. A drop of 63% in 2 months.

Divinity: Original sin 2:
93,950 players in September 2017, down to 28,670 in November 2017. A drop of about 70% in two months.

Grand Theft Auto V:
215,966 players in May 2015, down to 85,195 in June 2015. A drop of 60% in a month.

Fallout 4:
471,955 players in November 2015, down to 201,635 in December 2015 and down again to 119,272 in January 2016. Down 58% in a month and 75% in two months respectively.

I've been picking somewhat older, well known titles as examples just because mentioning a "random indie game no one ever heard of" isn't really going to help. Still, most games follow this exact pattern: a 50%+ drop in a month or two is more the norm than the exception from what i've seen.

Games that have a period of hype see even steeper declines than other games. Just look at Terraria, a game widely regarded as successful and still drawing 50k ish players years after release. In May 2020 it had a peak of 486,918 players. Yet in July 2020 that was back to it's "Stable" number of roughly 60k players (A nearly 90% decline). Yet that number remained stable for almost two years now, which signifies a game with long-term viability to me.

To say anything reasonable about BattleBit, we'd have to see how the eventual stable numbers pan out first.

[FeedMe]

Originally posted by Sazzbot:

Originally posted by Xendran:

The player numbers appear to be tanking fast. What is the problem? I know the game has alot of issues with disgustingly intrusive moderation, but overall the game is pretty decent. I guess I understand because the servers are pretty horrible

Ok. so what you gonna do now that you have cryed for attention?

Seems like he made a fair point and the response is that it's normal for a game to shed a sizable chunk of its initial players after release
I'm sure it doesn't help that a lot of the people now playing are extremely good and are mainig the vector resulting on quite often frustrating games for the more casual players

[GamingWithSilvertail]

Originally posted by FeedMe:

Originally posted by Sazzbot:

Ok. so what you gonna do now that you have cryed for attention?

Seems like he made a fair point and the response is that it's normal for a game to shed a sizable chunk of its initial players after release
I'm sure it doesn't help that a lot of the people now playing are extremely good and are mainig the vector resulting on quite often frustrating games for the more casual players

Imagine getting frustrated because a gun is meta.

HAve you ever thought its not specifically the gun and moreso, the resource o this 'frustration' is the whole unlock system and progression? on top of fthat prestiging removes everything for a few skins that arnt worth it?

[AEK_Enjoyer]

Originally posted by Excellion:

Originally posted by RaiNNNN:

Not many games become half of its peak players in just a month from its release . Player numbers decline for sure but not this fast.

That's what i used to think myself, until i saw an argument about this some time ago and checked SteamCharts on some games myself.

A few examples:

Monster Hunter: World:
329,333 players on 2018-08-01, down to 122,588 on 2018-01-02. A drop of 63% in 2 months.

Divinity: Original sin 2:
93,950 players in September 2017, down to 28,670 in November 2017. A drop of about 70% in two months.

Grand Theft Auto V:
215,966 players in May 2015, down to 85,195 in June 2015. A drop of 60% in a month.

Fallout 4:
471,955 players in November 2015, down to 201,635 in December 2015 and down again to 119,272 in January 2016. Down 58% in a month and 75% in two months respectively.

I've been picking somewhat older, well known titles as examples just because mentioning a "random indie game no one ever heard of" isn't really going to help. Still, most games follow this exact pattern: a 50%+ drop in a month or two is more the norm than the exception from what i've seen.

Games that have a period of hype see even steeper declines than other games. Just look at Terraria, a game widely regarded as successful and still drawing 50k ish players years after release. In May 2020 it had a peak of 486,918 players. Yet in July 2020 that was back to it's "Stable" number of roughly 60k players (A nearly 90% decline). Yet that number remained stable for almost two years now, which signifies a game with long-term viability to me.

To say anything reasonable about BattleBit, we'd have to see how the eventual stable numbers pan out first.

Most of those games are bound to lose players because they are not totally multiplayer focussed only game. Most of them are best enjoyed as coop or solo and hence they don't retain players for long. A few examples opposite to yours which are purely multiplayer focussed

PUBG
January 2018--- 3,236,027
December 2017-- 3,080,769
November 2017-- 2,915,723
October 2017-- 2,390,946
September 2017-- 1,550,463
August 2017-- 874,171
July 2017 --- 481,291
June 2017-- 267,194
May 2017-- 189,456

CSGO
March 2015-- 595,439
February 2015-- 455,508
January 2015 -- 443,188
December 2014-- 367,634
November 2014-- 348,018
October 2014 --260,613
September 2014 --242,494
August 2014--- 277,192
July 2014 --- 193,613
June 2014---- 164,134
May 2014 --- 170,137
April 2014---- 142,526
March 2014--- 164,495
February 2014 --- 119,764
January 2014--- 102,084
December 2013--- 96,298
November 2013--- 92,279
October 2013 --- 53,263
September 2013--- 52,052
August 2013 ---50,511

Rainbow 6 siege (after ubisoft fixed the game)
March 2018---- 176,208
February 2018 --- 125,133
January 2018 ---109,103
December 2017--- 100,433
November 2017--- 99,110
October 2017--- 59,895
September 2017--- 69,988
August 2017 --- 73,641
July 2017 --- 47,328


Apex Legends
August 2021--- 330,476
July 2021 ---- 262,129
June 2021---- 266,591
May 2021---- 330,879
April 2021 --- 217,728
March 2021---- 228,439
February 2021 --- 196,799
January 2021 ---- 129,928
December 2020---- 112,076

DOTA 2
March 2013---- 325,598
February 2013 ---- 283,870
January 2013 --- 260,989
December 2012--- 213,521
November 2012---- 169,631
October 2012 --- 171,860
September 2012---- 118,724

Many more are there but just gave a few examples. A purely multiplayer focussed game losing players at this rate like battlebit is a point to be worried about.

[ligma bawls]

nice balance devs. surely every gun is fine and balanced perfectly.

[Excirial]

Originally posted by RaiNNNN:

Most of those games are bound to lose players because they are not totally multiplayer focussed only game. Most of them are best enjoyed as coop or solo and hence they don't retain players for long. A few examples opposite to yours which are purely multiplayer focussed

Many more are there but just gave a few examples. A purely multiplayer focussed game losing players at this rate like battlebit is a point to be worried about.

The ones you listed are pretty much the "Cream of the crop" as far as multiplayer games go in terms of player retention and longevity. And for every game that manages to reach this scale there are dozens upon dozens that never get off the ground, or are relegated to a more niche market a bit after launch. But true - there are certainly games that see a stable or increasing playercount on launch.

Still, i don't believe anything can really be concluded from just a months worth of data. Battlebit is floating on hype and had a massive influx of players in a very short timespan, part of which were driven in by streamer and gaming channel attention and might not otherwise have bought a game like this. Due to this i don't see it as particularly worrying that there is currently a dieback in playercount. (It's really just counteracting the massive and kind of unreasonable inflation in numbers seen after launch earlier).

What counts mostly for me is what the playercount will eventually settle at (Provided it does and there is no continuous haemorrhage into nothingness of course). As long as it stabilises at a few thousand players there should always be a couple of servers around with sufficient capacity to play most game modes at the maximum size. Which means that anyone can at any time start the game and find people to play with.

As long as that can be achieved, the game should be able to run indefinitely (provided servers are kept online of course).

[KiritoSaoFan]

Originally posted by Xendran:

The player numbers appear to be tanking fast. What is the problem? I know the game has alot of issues with disgustingly intrusive moderation, but overall the game is pretty decent. I guess I understand because the servers are pretty horrible

For me its not real. This game have alot of potential and if they manage to fix the cheaters problem and balance better the weapons,can be a great game....

[Spooky]

Primetime? SEA? Where? Ded ..

[=]NXS[=LT-WESKER]

Originally posted by Xendran:

The player numbers appear to be tanking fast. What is the problem? I know the game has alot of issues with disgustingly intrusive moderation, but overall the game is pretty decent. I guess I understand because the servers are pretty horrible

Hehe.. yeah, it is dying. It´s nothing new ! From 87,000 to 29,000 in a few weeks. Pffff...

[境虛]

I surprised to see such a fat bait without any clown awards.

[Kalixrah]

Most games have massive peaks when first released then lose huge chunks of players later. Because they either didn't like it or doesn't interest them enough to stay. There is nothing odd about these numbers. It's par for the course.