Steam Numbers Now

Old Duck · May 22, 2019

So how are the Steam numbers now? Someone always posts Steam numbers right after Christmas and a huge update, and we're all like, "Woohoo, Elite is doing great!" But what about now?

The question is sincere, as I have no idea. I'm a PS4 player on indefinite hiatus, and considering how dull everything is around here lately, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm not alone.

PS - You can't claim Steam numbers matter when they are high and then say they don't matter when they are low. Consider them a statistic sample, like Nielsen ratings in the US.

Viajero · May 22, 2019

They went down a bit after the historical record peak in January (as is to be expected after such a record) and then went up a bit after the April update. So far nothing really unusual to report.

Vardaugas · May 22, 2019

Statistics matter when I make an argument. They do not matter when you make an argument. That's how statistics work. It's not rocket science.

Vandaahl · May 22, 2019

Think this was the amount of active players over the past months.

Hullreaver · May 22, 2019

4,339	4,855	Crossout
4,289	5,320	Elite Dangerous
4,176	6,701	World of Warships
4,105	5,043	No Man's Sky

Old Duck · May 22, 2019

LeoBartlet85 said:
#Gamesdead

I don't think the game is ever truly dead (until Frontier actually kills it), but like a bear it does take regular naps and even occasionally goes into hibernation (though gamers like myself tend to step away during summer months rather than winter).

Lightspeed · May 22, 2019

Vandaahl said:
Think this was the amount of active players over the past months.

So those bumps are when I was playing

Jaggid Edje · May 22, 2019

You can add +1 to that, I use Steam but mostly play games in offline mode so it doesn't count me I don't think.

Lightspeed · May 22, 2019

Oh ... wait ... I don't use steam

DragonIV · May 22, 2019

Let's just say FD adding something to show when the last time folks in my friends list played is, well, depressing.

babelfisch · May 22, 2019

Old Duck said:
PS - You can't claim Steam numbers matter when they are high and then say they don't matter when they are low. Consider them a statistic sample, like Nielsen ratings in the US.

Usually it's the other way around.

Anyway, steamnumbers are great if you consider the game is dead and in maintenance mode. It's almost like the doomsayers have been wrong since 5 years.

Old Duck · May 22, 2019

babelfisch said:
Anyway, steamnumbers are great if you consider the game is dead and in maintenance mode.

See my post above about dead vs. "sleeping". I just finished Rise of the Tomb Raider (excellent game), a game that is arguably in or even past maintenance mode, yet here I am playing it for the first time and enjoying it greatly. I haven't tried multiplayer yet, but I assume the servers are still online for it. Point being, a game is only dead when the parent company pulls the plug on the servers, like my beloved Paragon.

Still, I do feel ED might be in "nap time" mode, not only due to a lull in new content, but for the simple fact that summer is upon us. I haven't played for more than an a few hours since late March. I even moved ED to my external drive. I yawn at most of the threads being posted lately (you know things are slow when "Let's have sex with the Thargoids" is the most popular topic). I know ED is far from dead, but it does feel sleepy.

I suppose you can say, "Steam numbers are great if you consider Old Duck is bored with the game and the forum." LOL

ps - while ED / Frontier sleeps, the bed bugs ARE biting!

Viajero · May 22, 2019

Old Duck said:
Still, I do feel ED might be in "nap time" mode, not only due to a lull in new content, but for the simple fact that summer is upon us

The numbers in Steam suggest that at the moment that is not yet the case though (unless you meant it for your personal stance). Numbers may very well drop throughout the year though, with the expected pick ups at update release times. But this has been the usual cyclic nature of Elite concurrency figures since day 1.

Yaffle · May 22, 2019

Jaggid Edje said:
You can add +1 to that, I use Steam but mostly play games in offline mode so it doesn't count me I don't think.

Off-line mode? That's a thing?

Jaggid Edje · May 22, 2019

Yaffle said:
Off-line mode? That's a thing?

In Steam it is. I meant steam offline mode, not Elite Dangerous ..... lol We're talking steam numbers and if you play in Steam offline it doesn't register that you're playing the game.

I like to play in offline mode for several reasons, the main one being that I share my steam account with family and only one person can be "online" at a time.

-VR- Max Factor · May 22, 2019

Vandaahl said:
Think this was the amount of active players over the past months.

That's the number of concurrent players over the last month. Not the actual amount of players that have played over the last month in steam.

Ian Skippy · May 22, 2019

Old Duck said:
See my post above about dead vs. "sleeping". I just finished Rise of the Tomb Raider (excellent game), a game that is arguably in or even past maintenance mode, yet here I am playing it for the first time and enjoying it greatly. I haven't tried multiplayer yet, but I assume the servers are still online for it. Point being, a game is only dead when the parent company pulls the plug on the servers, like my beloved Paragon.

Still, I do feel ED might be in "nap time" mode, not only due to a lull in new content, but for the simple fact that summer is upon us. I haven't played for more than an a few hours since late March. I even moved ED to my external drive. I yawn at most of the threads being posted lately (you know things are slow when "Let's have sex with the Thargoids" is the most popular topic). I know ED is far from dead, but it does feel sleepy.

I suppose you can say, "Steam numbers are great if you consider Old Duck is bored with the game and the forum." LOL

ps - while ED / Frontier sleeps, the bed bugs ARE biting!

Steam numbers are quite decent currently, but I expect them to continue to decline (with the occasional bump with each minor update) until summer 2020. At that point I suspect PR will start to ramp up about the 'next era' thingy, combined with Steam Sales to get people into the base game as cheap as possible (I expect ED + Horizons for 5-10 quid). The release of 'next era' should result in the highest peak ever for ED, and what happens next depends on whether it is actually any good.

-VR- Max Factor · May 22, 2019

Ian Skippy said:
Steam numbers are quite decent currently, but I expect them to continue to decline (with the occasional bump with each minor update) until summer 2020. At that point I suspect PR will start to ramp up about the 'next era' thingy, combined with Steam Sales to get people into the base game as cheap as possible (I expect ED + Horizons for 5-10 quid). The release of 'next era' should result in the highest peak ever for ED, and what happens next depends on whether it is actually any good.

Sounds about right.

Vasco Sapien · May 22, 2019

Can Fdev maintain player interest until 2020?

firemane · May 22, 2019

I believe those numbers cover only public steam accounts.

Last time I checked it can't read Steam accounts that have privacy settings enabled. Of course, it can't count anyone using the Frontier Launcher. Thus the real number is bound to be very different from what you see there. You can use that data to compare among Steam games (similar restrictions and data set), but any type of global generalization about the playerbase would be pure speculation.

I think the leaderboards are making a difference in terms of activity for organization-bound players. I am seeing a lot of fervor and passion directed at that competition. Perhaps the downturn will be smaller on this cycle.