It’s no secret that launch Hellraiser 2 Last month was a month in the books. It may not be breaking industry records for sales or player counts, but everything about it paints a picture that we rarely, if ever, see in the current version of the gaming industry.
Helldivers 2 was a game that sold extremely well upon release, even exceeding its developer’s internal metrics. Usually, that’s where the good news ends, as sales and player interest inevitably decline after launch.
But that’s not what happened here.
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Instead, demand for Helldiver 2 continues to grow. You can see this in its public Steam concurrent player count, which continues to be surpassed every day.
It’s so popular that it’s become a problem for developer Arrowhead, who have worked hard to upgrade server capacity to sustain the influx of players. It was only recently that another increase in player limits allowed the game to have its first smooth weekend.
All of this was unusual, and it caught the attention of industry analysts, who were reminded only How rare this is. Mat Piscatella is one of those veterans. Piscatella is the executive director of Circana (formerly NPD), a group known for its long-term tracking of game and hardware sales in North America.
Piscatella took to Twitter to explain why the release of Hellraiser 2 is something of an anomaly in the popular video game industry. According to him, the game’s U.S. sales rose again in its third week of release, forming what he calls a “reverse decay curve.”
“It felt like Steve Irwin saw a rare bird or something,” he exclaim. “Rare and stunning, even with an Australian accent.”
Piscatella shared a chart that represents the standard sales decay curve experienced by the vast majority of game launches. In short, most sales are made at and around launch, after which sales and player interest begin to decline.sales volume able Growth comes again after free weekends, discounts, etc., but conventional wisdom says launch is the strongest period.
“Through the ‘reverse decay curve,’ the trend reverses,” he explained. “It’s rare, especially for big games.”
“Merely saying ‘growth’ does not explain its essence – as ‘growth’ may be temporary, i.e. from discounting. Using the term “reverse decay curve” indicates that baseline sales are improving, versus short-term factors that may affect incremental demand It’s irrelevant.”
Piscatella told IGN that it reminded him of Guitar Hero when it launched on the PS2, a game that didn’t immediately become a hit as we remember it, but thanks to word of mouth as sales continued to rise.
“Now, I’m not saying Hellraiser 2 is going to be the next Guitar Hero, just that there’s similar behavior in the sales curve,” he said.
Whether you’re new to the game or a veteran of the classic prequel, our Hellraiser 2 tips are worth a read. This is a game with a depth that can only be discovered by playing (or reading about other people’s experiences).
