In recent years, Steam Charts have become a ubiquitous tool for gauging the success of video games, offering real-time data on player counts and trends. However, an overreliance on this single metric can paint a misleading picture of a game’s true performance and long-term viability. The case of “Helldivers 2,” which saw a precipitous 90% drop in its player base following an initially successful launch, underscores the pitfalls of using Steam Charts as the definitive measure of a game’s success.

While these numbers can signal issues, they often fail to capture the full spectrum of a game’s health, including factors such as player engagement across platforms, community satisfaction, and developer support. They also fail to capture what the developer and publisher count as success. 12 million copies sold doesnt feel like failure, but the games inability to capture a larger audience long term is perhaps a concern, and shows how tough Sony will have it when trying to generate some of that live service lucre.

Paul Tassi over at Forbes is certainly framing the drop in players as a serious blow to Sony’s live service ambitions but is there more to this and is it as serious as the Steam Charts suggests?

This is important because this is a live game. This is the type of game that Sony wanted to make an impact and become an ongoing success, not just an initial one. Sony can sell plenty of copies of single player games and it’s fine if the playercount significantly drops off rather quickly once players are finished.

Paul Tassi – Forbes

Hell Divers 2 has lost 90% of players but is this just where the game is? Perhaps another way to look at this is that Helldivers has found its core audience, with a casual audience of 12 million, all of whom have paid for the game and lined Sony’s pockets, and could potentially rejoin the game, or pay for further content expansions when they are released.

What is really going on here?

There is more to this than just stale gameplay of course. The game launched and surprised everyone with just how good it was. The gameplay was unlike most other titles around at the time. The game play is really really fun and the visuals are stunning. All of which combined to become a viral hit, with the network effect and amplification by social media combining to further the games reach and increase sales. Since its release in February 2024, Helldivers 2 has received numerous updates aimed at improving game stability, balancing gameplay, and adding new content. But the game has also had its problems.

Its own worst enemy

Its fair to say that many of the games problems are of its own making. Sony mandated that a PlayStation Network (PSN) account was required to play “Helldivers 2” on Steam starting May 6, 2024. Initially, new players were to link their Steam and PSN accounts starting May 6, and existing players were required to link their accounts by May 30, 2024. However, due to significant backlash from the gaming community, Sony reversed this decision on May 6, 2024, and dropped the requirement for mandatory PSN account linking​.

But the damage was done with players from up to 170 countries unable to play the game and sentiment among exsiting players severly damaged.

Changes to the core gameplay have also enraged players who feel that once a strat or loadout meta becomes too popular the games devs and commmunity team nerf it as a way of maintaining the games difficulty level. Which might be great for casul players picking the game upevery few days but does nothing to engender good will in your most commited players.

Failure of design and modern gaming

Why do we always need something to grind for? I stopped playing Halo Infinite after I made Hero rank. Why? I love the game and miss the friends I’ve made but there just seems to be no point to endless rounds of the same maps and modes with no end in sight. Once I had achieved the ultimate accolade the game could give me what is the point?

And here lies the rub. Modern games are designed to engage you. To give you something to do, to achieve, with having fun almost secondary, a mere by product of all that “engagement”.

Helldivers is a victim of this mindset, of its own design choices. By its nature it is repetitive and grindy. Great for short bursts, or casually with friends every few days or weeks. But without constant updates and new content, the game will start to feel old and ultimately pointless.

Of course there will be those who love the gameplay loop. Who fell in love with the aesthetic or the setting and love jumping in each day. These are the hardcore and every game has them. But for most players these days there is simply too much choice to stick around for a game that offers them no new experience or gameplay loop.

So whilst the Steam charts are interesting, and useful for console warriors and armchair critics to obsess over, like any statistic they never tell the whole story. Helldivers 2 must be considered a massive success and perhaps its current position of having “only” 45000 concurrent players is just part of its natural evolution, to finding its place in the gaming landscape of 2024.