Summary
- Helldivers 2 hit an all-time low PC player count in early July, dropping below 13,000 concurrent Steam players.
- While live-service games tend to live and die by the size of their player communities, Helldivers 2 is well-positioned to keep receiving updates in the foreseeable future, not least because it launched as a massively successful $40 title rather than a free-to-play offering.
Helldivers 2 hit an all-time low concurrent player count on Steam, dropping to just below 13,000 players in early July 2024. While its community remains fairly substantial, many Helldivers 2 players appear to have moved on from the game, at least for the time being.
Arrowhead Game Studios' latest title was released for the PS5 and PC on February 8. The PlayStation-published live-service shooter debuted to widespread fan adoration and critical acclaim, quickly becoming a hit across all supported platforms. According to the latest commercial update from Sony, Helldivers 2 sold over 12 million copies as of March 31.
Helldivers 2 Lost Over 90% Of Its PC Players Since Launch
But a significant chunk of that player base appears to have moved on by now, at least as far as the PC crowd is concerned. That's according to some new data scrapped by SteamDB, which reveals that Helldivers 2 had recently dropped to just 12,995 concurrent Steam players. The all-time low count was recorded on Tuesday, July 9, just after 2am PT / 05am ET / 11am CET. During its busiest hours of the day, the co-op shooter still peaks at roughly 35,000 players on Valve's platform. While that's far from a trivial figure, it's also a far cry from the height of the game's popularity, which saw Helldivers 2 seize the title of the most-played game on Steam. Since then, the shooter has lost over 90% of its daily PC player base.
This downward trend has been observable for a while now, as Helldivers 2 has been consistently losing players since March 2024. Going by end-of-month data, May has so far proven to be its worst month, responsible for a 53% player count drop. The rate of decline slowed down in June when Helldivers 2 lost only about one-quarter of its remaining PC player base. The currently available data for the first half of July 2024 indicates that an even smaller drop is expected to be recorded over the course of this month.
Generally speaking, it is completely normal for games to lose steam shortly following their release. But while those trends are generally unavoidable for single-player experiences, live-service games try their best to mitigate them, not least because they essentially live and die by the size and health of their player communities.
Helldivers 2 does have one major advantage in this respect over many of its rivals, as it launched as a $40 product rather than a free-to-play offering. Given its immense launch sales, Arrowhead should be well-positioned to keep supporting Helldivers 2 with new content updates in the foreseeable future, even if none of them manage to reinvigorate the game's player count.
Helldivers 2
- Released
- February 8, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
The Galaxy’s Last Line of Offence. Enlist in the Helldivers and join the fight for freedom across a hostile galaxy in a fast, frantic, and ferocious third-person shooter.
URGENT BROADCAST – SUPER EARTH ARMED FORCES
Freedom. Peace. Democracy. Your Super Earth-born rights. The key pillars of our civilization. Of our very existence. But the war rages on. And everything is once again under threat.
Join the greatest military force the galaxy has ever seen and make this a safe and free place to live.
BECOME A LEGEND
You will be assembled into squads of up to four Helldivers and assigned strategic missions. Watch each other’s back – friendly fire is an unfortunate certainty of war, but victory without teamwork is impossible.
LOADOUTS
Rain down freedom from above, sneak through enemy territory, or grit your teeth and charge head-first into the jaws of combat. How you deliver liberty is your choice; you’ll have access to a wide array of explosive firepower, life-saving armor and battle-changing stratagems… the jewel in every Helldiver’s arsenal.
REQUISITION
Super Earth recognises your hard work with valuable Requisition. Use it to access different rewards that benefit you, your squad, your destroyer ship and our overall war effort.
THREATS
Everything on every planet wants you dead. That’s what we’re dealing with. Each enemy has distinct and unpredictable characteristics, tactics, and behavior – but they all fight ferociously and without fear or morality.
THE GALACTIC WAR
Capturing enemy planets, defending against invasions, and completing missions will contribute to our overall effort. This war will be won or lost depending on the actions of everyone involved.
We stand together, or we fall apart.
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Franchise
- Helldivers
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players (online)
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
- Metascore
- 83
- Platforms That Support Crossplay
- PC & PS5
