Success brings with it a lot of applause and pats on the back, but it also attracts negative things. A few months ago, Helldivers 2 was on everyone’s lips and no one disputed that it was one of the big hits of 2024, but now it seems that things have changed: it is dead and/or in ruins. The reason for this abrupt change is an old acquaintance that affects any video game that dares to stand out.
A sector of the video game industry has thrown its hands up in horror when reviewing the numbers of Helldivers 2 in SteamDB: 36,440 players in the last 24 hours and 22,240 concurrent players at the time of writing this post. While these are not the numbers it managed at launch, peaking at 458,709 players on Steam, hitting the panic button at this point is playing a card that no longer works for many.
Ups and downs, the natural order of things
There are many people who have cried out in recent days that Helldivers 2 is dead, in trouble or finished because it has lost 90% of its players. It has been repeated in videos, news and social networks, so much so that even the Community Manager of Arrowhead Game StudiosTwinbeard, has taken to Discord to answer this question and others such as the arrival of new content:
We plan to keep Helldivers 2 running for years to come and will be releasing new content regularly. As an example, and as you may know, a new biome was released last week. So yes, I can almost guarantee that there will be new areas to play in the future.
The Arrowhead CM’s words weren’t enough for some fans like Reddit’s SublimeBear, who shared a post with a series of graphs, comparisons and a reflection on the decline in players in Helldivers 2:
Frankly, I was annoyed by all the trash videos reporting on the “death of HD2” and showing Steam graphics from other video games, comparing them as if they were on the same scale when they clearly weren’t. So I created what I consider to be the correct comparison. A comparison to other games within Helldivers 2’s genre: PvE-focused, co-op horde shooters.
This user uses PAYDAY 2, Warhammer 40.000: Darkhide, WarframeBack 4 Blood, Deep Rock Galactic and Destiny 2 to compare to Helldivers 2. Including others like World War Z and Left 4 Dead would not have been a bad idea. The video game from Arrowhead Game Studios is at the top of all the charts, even surpassing Warframe and Destiny 2, two incredible and very well-known releases, in many cases.
It is important to remember that Helldivers 2 has sold over 12 million copies. This not only ensures a player base, but also a sure return of many who are now enjoying other video games such as Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree or The First Descendant
Another factor that affects the number of players Helldivers 2 is the shift in Arrowhead Game Studios’ plans for delivering new content. It was during the release of the last War Bonus, Viper Commandos, that they announced a change of pace. No longer will a new Bonus necessarily arrive every second week of the month. Still, they’ve kept the new content flowing… in the form of biomes and quests, things that aren’t as flashy as new weapons and armor.
Same story, different video game
Helldivers 2 It’s not dying or going anywhere. It’s true that the number of players has dropped, but that doesn’t mean a death sentence in this case. I don’t even think that the current numbers are bad. It’s not like there’s a ceiling that will go down and prevent it from rising again later. It will do so when new content and important events within its universe arrive, such as the Enlightened Ones. I remind you that Helldivers (2015) remained active for many years with much less and there are still players enjoying it.
This alarm or panic occurs whenever a successful video game sees its numbers drop. It can be sad, but it is also inevitable and normal. You can’t always be on top of the wave. And since I know that the best way to illustrate these cases is with practical examples, here are several well-known video games that have risen and fallen over the years. Remember that these figures do not take consoles into account, only Steam.
I could continue giving examples of ups and downs in figures like the saga Fallout thanks to the series, No Man’s Sky every time it adds major updates and when DayZ surpassed its peak number of players on Steam 6 months ago. And it will happen again with Starfield, another video game that suffered these alarms, when the expansion is released Shattered Space.
Is it so traumatic that Helldivers 2 has lost players? Are the numbers really so bad that we should say it’s dead and press the panic button? Or is it rather a process that all games go through?
At iGamesNews | I played the best game of Helldivers 2 of my life and it was all thanks to the bad times in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
At iGamesNews | I’ve seen that the Automaton front of Helldivers 2 has become a problem: “nobody wants to touch our worlds”, and it’s for a good reason
At iGamesNews | I have left my post in Helldivers 2 to travel to the past and fulfill the wish of many players: to defend SuperEarth from the Automata
