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Helldivers 2 is currently on a downward spiral as it has been losing players at a rapid pace. In the past two months, it has gone from averaging 120,000 concurrent players to just 36,000 as players get bored and move on to other titles. This is normal for games and many players don’t stick at just one game. But, when it comes to the live service model, having the player base abandon the game isn’t ideal. However, that doesn’t mean the game will never be successful again. And when looking at the figures, it is anything but a failure.
U/LoneWolf12912 took to Reddit to discuss Helldivers 2 and its recent drop in players, which has seen it go below 40,000 concurrent players in recent days. The Reddit post references a post on X by Odyssey Interactive’s Marketing Director Ryan Rigney that said,
- “be a small/midsize studio
- make a game that sells for $39.99
- It sells ~15 million copies
- gross nearly half a billi on Steam alone
- like $4m per employee
- daily peak ccu still at 45k”
Looking at the numbers laid out, what Helldivers 2 and Arrowhead Game Studios have been able to achieve over the past six months is remarkable, especially when comparing it to the success of the first game. While it may be on a downward trend right now, at any moment an update or change to the game could bring players back. Games such as Fortnite went through major downward trends and had “fallen off,” yet were able to break records when Epic Games released the Fortnite OG season. Maybe when The Illuminate finally comes to the game?
That could be a great opportunity for some players to return, with u/Dyyrin saying “I plan to return when a new faction comes. Tired of defending the same planets and fighting the same two factions,” while u/Kittimm noted that “Me and the boys just waiting for content. Don’t care if it’s a new faction but after a few hundred hours, most of it on Helldive, there’s really nothing else to do. Everything unlocked, everything played to death. Not really a fault of the game – it owes us nothing at this point. But if some new and interesting stuff drops, we’ll be back.”
So, like Epic Games and Fortnite OG, it seems like most players are itching to come back to Helldivers 2, they just need a reason to. Right now, the game isn’t much different than it was when it launched. Apart from some new guns, Stratagems, and a few planets, it is the same that players purchased back in February 2024. All it will take is one great update to turn things around. Although things are looking bleak right now, it likely won’t last forever.
