• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Helldiver’s 2 Has Lost 90% Of Its Players (Steam)

Killjoy-NL

Member
i think alot of it has to do with how weapons were handled and how we were teased a new faction months and months ago and nothing ever came of it. people are tired of killing the same damn things
Were we teased a new faction though?

All I know is that the PC community shared leaks from datamining.
 

Dorfdad

Gold Member
It’s a 10 hour game about mental illness. I means most people have played it and moved on no reason think this is some kind of GAAS title that has failed.
 

Mortisfacio

Member
I'm a little bummed I fell for the FOMO. It's just an average game on its own, but enjoyable to play with friends. As are many average online experiences. I was led to believe this was a unique experience.
 

Dr. Claus

Banned
I stopped playing because it grew boring, and I won’t be returning as the company continues to keep the same mentally ill, psychotic community managers that make false rape claims without ever substantiating it.
 

simpatico

Member
They burnt up a lot of good will by having horrible community relations. There are just too many other options on PC for that type of game. They have a chance to become a big dog studio if their next release goes that well. Hopefully they get their shit together by then.
 

Fabieter

Member
Yes it’s a live service game but it’s a bit ridiculous to compare these numbers to F2P games.

Does player retention even matter when 12 million people have bought the game for 40 dollars in a few months?

I don’t think Arrowhead/Sony or anybody expected 12 million lifetime sales let alone a few months.

Player retention matters more for F2P games cause they are dependent on microtransactions to keep the game profitable.

It's a success but the point of games like this is to retain those players for continuous revenue. The roadmap they planned will cost alot of money if they lose more and more players than service games won't make them more money than sp games in the long run.
 

Warablo

Member
Well their last warbond was rather weak, and haven't had any good content in terms of the Illuminate or new enemy showing up
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
It's a success but the point of games like this is to retain those players for continuous revenue. The roadmap they planned will cost alot of money if they lose more and more players than service games won't make them more money than sp games in the long run.
The game just released.

Games like Warframe, NMS and FFXIV were far from a success at launch or during the first year(s). FFXIV even got a complete reboot.

These kind of games are a long-term investment and it's better to wait and see how it develops over the next 2-3 years.
That's when you can really tell if it's successful or not.

So in that sense, it's incomparable to sp games.
 
Last edited:

Fabieter

Member
The game just released.

Games like Warframe, NMS and FFXIV were far from a success at launch or during the first year(s). FFXIV even got a complete reboot.

These kind of games are a long-term investment and it's better to wait and see how it develops over the next 2-3 years.
That's when you can really tell if it's successful or not.

So in that sense, it's incomparable to sp games.

Redemption arcs can take years. Let's see if sony is willing to do that. Sqaure pulled devs from other projects and delayed them to make ff 14 a success. That wasnt just patience. It was full commitment.
 
As it happens with 90% of live service games over time.

Let's see if Concord comes anywhere close to this games initial launch.
Concord will be so sad. That game looks the most uninterested appealing mish-mash of Destiny + Overwatch + Marvel that I can't see lasting 3 weeks before it starts to bleed out players. It looks just that bad.
 

Mobilemofo

Member
they said they wanted to take more time between updates, if the next update doesn't increase the players, it will be officially over. but I bet its already a financial success.
I'm sorry, but that's absolute bollocks. It won't be over. 😅 So fuckin dramatic, honestly.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
Redemption arcs can take years. Let's see if sony is willing to do that. Sqaure pulled devs from other projects and delayed them to make ff 14 a success. That wasnt just patience. It was full commitment.
The point of GaaS is to be supported for years.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Was going to get it but then all that stuff about the PSN account came up, lost interest and moved on to something else.
At this point I'd rather wait for EDF 6.

That said, about 30K players seems good enough, game should still be alive and finding matches shouldn't be an issue.
 
Sure, initially.

But it's part of Sony's GaaS-strategy and only time will tell how that'll turn out.


The strategy can't be sustained by PowerPoint slides but a smart investment strategy and providing full long-term support to projects with good potential. If Helldivers eventually dies, it will be because Sony failed to understand its potential and the studio can't make it grow as it should to remain relevant for years.
 
The strategy can't be sustained by PowerPoint slides but a smart investment strategy and providing full long-term support to projects with good potential. If Helldivers eventually dies, it will be because Sony failed to understand its potential and the studio can't make it grow as it should to remain relevant for years.
It will have 5-10k players playing 5 years from today.

Thats the potential for a game like this. Which is fine.

If you want 100k players returning 1 year after release, you need a bigger game with a new expansion or a major game mode. I don’t think this was planned for this game.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
The strategy can't be sustained by PowerPoint slides but a smart investment strategy and providing full long-term support to projects with good potential. If Helldivers eventually dies, it will be because Sony failed to understand its potential and the studio can't make it grow as it should to remain relevant for years.
Well yeah, that's a given.
 
It will have 5-10k players playing 5 years from today.

Thats the potential for a game like this. Which is fine.

If you want 100k players returning 1 year after release, you need a bigger game with a new expansion or a major game mode. I don’t think this was planned for this game.


And this is what should be. They have created an amazing core gameplay and stylish visuals/tone. That's rare nowadays. Ideally, this could evolve into a full-fledged galaxy conquest (with intricate lore) ala Warhammer but Arrowhead is just a small studio and can't do that alone.

Sony will most likely settle for the good sales and let it go. A mistake in my book.
 

Alphagear

Member
It's a success but the point of games like this is to retain those players for continuous revenue. The roadmap they planned will cost alot of money if they lose more and more players than service games won't make them more money than sp games in the long run.

Players return when new content comes.

We see it with Destiny and now Palworld.

What’s so different here?
 

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
This is why live service isn't the golden goose some people insist it is, the natural tendency is for the majority of players to lose interest in a game over time, even ones that got as popular as this one.

Player retention is always an uphill battle. To achieve that you often need to pour lofty amounts of money onto the game while still losing players and hoping they'll keep generating revenue to make up those investments.

All in all its a difficult business model to keep up, i often see certain users here acting as if you just need to label the game "live service", sit back and watch the money pour in.
 
Last edited:

KaiserBecks

Member
tom hardy bane GIF

Victory has defeated you

It's an amazing game that's just too barebones right now. I had a really good time but dropped it after reaching lvl 20 or 25, I don't remember.
The warbonds don't offer enough to keep me entertained, but I'll sure as hell revisit the game once there's a new expansion with a new faction / new enemies / new biomes or new vehicles.
The core of the game is really good, but I think the game's success has overwhelmed the small studio. Have they released some kind of roadmap? My guess is they initially couldn't tell how much effort they could or should bring in post release.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
This is why live service isn't the golden goose some people insist it is, the natural tendency is for the majority of players to lose interest in a game over time, even ones that got as popular as this one.

Player retention is always an uphill battle. To achieve that you often need to pour lofty amounts of money onto the game while still losing players and hoping they'll keep generating revenue to make up those investments.

All in all its a difficult business model to keep up, i often see certain users here acting as if you just need to label the game "live service", sit back and watch the money pour in.
I wonder who actually believes what you just stated here (bolded).

Everybody knows live services stand or fall with actual support.
And even the successful ones see repeated cycles of players jumping in with new content and a drop-off after a while until new content drops.
 
Last edited:

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
I wonder who actually believes what you just stated here (bolded).

Everybody knows live services stand or fall with actual support.
Yes, and that support costs a lot, often as much as a new game altogether. Yet you will still see people holding the belief GAAS is worth it because of "continuous revenue". Since that revenue isn't free nor cheap, at some point you have to wonder if just making sequels isn't a better alternative.
 
Last edited:

Killjoy-NL

Member
Yes, and that support costs a lot, often as much as a new game altogether. Yet you will still see people holding the belief GAAS is worth it because of "continuous revenue". Since that revenue isn't free nor cheap, at some point you have to wonder if just making sequels isn't a better alternative.
That all depends entirely on how much profit is being made off a GaaS title.

Btw, that also goes for SP games. They need to sell enough to make a game profitable.
Just look at what happened to Tango and Hellblade also didn't sell.
 
Last edited:

MikeM

Gold Member
I haven’t played in a while as its 1. Summer time and 2. Patches seems to make the balancing and perf worse with each one.
 

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
That all depends entirely on how much profit is being made off a GaaS title. That also goes for SP games. They need to sell enough to make a game profitable.
For SP games you just need to do basic market research and manage your budget accordingly. You can take a lot more risks.

GAAS is a much vaguer. You need to take into account other similar popular games in the market, somehow predict what the player retention will be and adjust accordingly - with even too much players possibly incurring in losses, create specific business models for the continuous revenue generation, estabilish all the logistics for continuous support that has to get updates out in timely fashion. And each one of those things can completely break your game if you mess up even a little bit.

And none of this is strange since, historically, services are much harder to sell than products.

Just look at what happened to Tango and Hellblade also didn't sell.
Yeah, and look at what happened to Suicide Squad, Avengers, Anthem, Battlefield 2042, Babyllon fall, Halo Infinite, Knockout City, Lawbreakers, CrossfireX, Redfall, etc.

Not to mention the games you mentioned did generate profit, Tango got shutdown because MS as a whole did poor financial decisions and naturally some will get caught in the cost-cutting crossfire.
 
Last edited:

Killjoy-NL

Member
For SP games you just need to do basic market research and manage your budget accordingly. You can take a lot more risks.

GAAS is a much vaguer. You need to take into account other similar popular games in the market, somehow predict what the player retention will be and adjust accordingly - with even too much players possibly incurring in losses, create specific business models for the continuous revenue generation, estabilish all the logistics for continuous support that has to get updates out in timely fashion. And each one of those things can completely break your game if you mess up even a little bit.

Both sp and Gaas have their pros and cons.

Everything you say is a given, but goes for sp as well.
And none of this is strange since, historically, services are much harder to sell than products.
Sure, but GaaS titles are still products. They're not any different from Elden Ring getting a bew expansion, except that they continue to support a single release instead of moving onto a new title after 1 or 2 expansions/DLC.

Yeah, and look at what happened to Suicide Squad, Avengers, Anthem, Battlefield 2042, Babyllon fall, Halo Infinite, Knockout City, Lawbreakers, CrossfireX, etc.
You could make a list for sp games that flopped as well. Probably a longer list than Gaas.

Then again, Gaas titles need to prove themselves long-term.

Fortnite (BR) released in 2017.
Warframe released in 2013
Destiny released in 2014.
FFXIV released in 2010.
No Man's Sky released in 2016.

Helldivers 2 released 5 months ago.
 
Last edited:

Fabieter

Member
That all depends entirely on how much profit is being made off a GaaS title.

Btw, that also goes for SP games. They need to sell enough to make a game profitable.
Just look at what happened to Tango and Hellblade also didn't sell.

It's a bit easier to predict sp games break even than gaas games tho.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
The game’s been a big success from what I’ve seen. It’s only natural that players that enjoy these types of games move over to other multiplayer GaaS titles.

It’s also not like they’re all gone for good. People return with new content updates.
 
Top Bottom