After 7 years in development, Hellblade 2 was finally released on May 21. Although it has received an overall positive reception due to its technical capabilities and graphical fidelity, it has left a little disappointment due to the lack of improvements from the original 2017 game.
It seems like it hasn’t been as big of a hit as Xbox was probably hoping for, as the game has already left Steam’s top 50 charts. Helldivers 2, on the other hand, has maintained a consistent playerbase since launch and is still in the top 50 after three months.
Hellblade 2’s Player Count on Steam Is Rather Low
Despite releasing on both Xbox and PC Game Pass on day one at no additional cost, like a lot of other first-party games, Hellblade 2 is seeing rather low player numbers. According to Steam charts, its all-time peak was at 3,892 players. Of course, these are only Steam numbers and don’t include the Game Pass versions, which are on a separate application, but these numbers are still rather low, even for a smaller, single-player game.
Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, a game that originally launched on the PS4 four years ago, reached an all-time peak of around 77,000 players. The fact that a highly anticipated sequel to a critically acclaimed game that was rather unique isn’t doing quite as well is a little disappointing.
Starfield’s all-time peak was around 330,000 players when it launched eight months ago. Sure, Starfield was a lot more anticipated than Hellblade 2, but a difference of around 100 times the player count? Not sure if that’s a good sign. Especially in a far less crowded gaming season with no other big releases around that time.
Why Exactly Is the Hellblade 2 Player Count Low?
Although there’s plenty to praise about the game, there are a few things that might be quite off-putting to a lot of players. One big criticism has been its pacing and gameplay, which is rather slow, takes away almost all control from the player, and puts you into very linear, walking simulator-like sections.
There have also been criticisms of its overall narrative and story, as well as its length. The game costs $50 and has a total playtime of around five to six hours when played at a normal pace. That’s not inherently negative, but maybe some players want more bang for their buck.
The length would have been more controversial if the game didn’t come to Game Pass subscribers for pretty much free at cost, but maybe that’s one reason why the Steam player counts are a lot lower since players would much rather play it as part of the subscription rather than shell out $50 for a few hours of gameplay.
Helldivers 2, on the other hand, isn’t on Sony’s PSN subscription service. Sony doesn’t put any first-party or third-party games on the service for at least one year after its launch, since PSN isn’t the main source of revenue, unlike software and hardware sales. Xbox, on the other hand, bets heavily on Game Pass to bring users into the Xbox and PC ecosystem.
What did you think of Hellblade 2? Did it live up to your expectations? Let us know in the comments below.
