Helldivers 2 has already lost over 90% of its PC players just five months after launch amid a series of controversies surrounding its recent patches.
Despite its initial success, Helldivers 2 on PC only had 44,093 peak concurrent players in June, far from its peak of 458,709 concurrent players during its first two weeks, Forbes reported.
(Photo : Arrowhead Game Studio/Sony)
The significant player drop is recorded amid new weapons, cosmetics, battlefronts, and other supposed game improvements being introduced every update.
Even its Twitch streams have been noted to have greatly declined over the past months as players return to other well-established third-person shooters.
Also Read: Helldivers 2 is Losing More of Its Playerbase as It Faces Criticism, Again
Why is Helldivers 2 Losing Players?
One main reason many players pointed out the player decline in Helldivers 2 is due to the "absurd patches" that make high-level content almost impossible to clear.
Even with game developer Arrowhead Studios releasing balancing patches to allow players better chances, these updates often "nerf" most of the popular weapons to encourage players to try other methods.
Absurd patches
— Abbas 🇵🇸 (@archofinfamy) June 30, 2024
They nerf a weapon that players use.
Players move to different weapon.
They nerf that weapon too and encourage players to use other weapons.
And proceed to nerf those weapons too.
Kind of took the fun out of the game for me.
Some players also raised concerns with the game's official community managers often banning people on their social platforms for raising criticisms on Helldivers 2 and its developers.
This is not to mention that Helldivers 2's Steam store page remains inaccessible to over 177 countries even after PlayStation removed its PlayStation Network account linking requirement.
Related Article: Helldivers 2 is Still Not Purchasable in 177 Countries
What is the Future for Helldivers 2?
For a live-service game, Helldivers 2 is expected to go on for a long time as each subsequent patch offers players new content, missions, weapons, and upgrades. However, with its recent decline, the game's future has now become more precocious.
As of writing, there is no indication that Helldivers 2 publisher PlayStation intends to shut down the game anytime soon, although cutbacks can be expected if a similar trend further continues.
