Helldivers 2 has almost been an instant hit for PC and PlayStation 5 players. The game, even though having its foundations in a live-service model, has been one of the most successful launches on Steam in recent times. However, the narrative around this may be changing.
As it happens, the player count on PS5 is around 1 in 20 active players. Which may paint a false image of the game’s performance on the system, even though the game has been selling well on consoles.
How many people are actively playing Helldivers 2 on PS5?
In a recent tweet, user Gaz on Twitter shared a graph that represents Helldiver 2’s active player count on PlayStation. The original screenshot comes from user, Mat Piscatella. To track hard numbers, that would be around 20,500 players at the time of writing.
Given the much, much higher number of players on Steam, it does come as a surprise that the stats are so low. There’s no official word around this, nor is there any concrete evidence as to why the player count is so low compared to PC players.
However, there can be some speculation around the requirement of a PS Plus subscription to play online, and a natural decline in players over time.
Omg only 1 in 20 active PS5 users are playing Helldivers lol!!! PC is saving PlayStation 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/4JDojyrNOH
— Gaz (@Septic_Sauce) February 19, 2024
While the game isn’t available on Xbox, the numbers are also important since they almost represent the game’s exclusivity on a PlayStation 5 console. Although, it’s essential to keep in mind that player count often doesn’t truly represent a game’s overall quality.
The declining nature of co-op games
Out of all the multiplayer titles that exist today, few may be as fun as Helldivers 2. Even though this tells us that live service games can be a lot of fun, not everything shines bright all the time. Especially when there are a lot of server issues and minor bugs to fix (which is something the devs are facing at the moment).
Furthermore, there’s a chance that Helldivers 2 won’t require a PS Plus subscription in the future. We’re yet to see how it will affect the game, but it certainly removes an obstacle for players who don’t want to worry about those extra steps when booting up the game.
That being said, the mystery around the game’s low numbers certainly requires some investigation (and speculation). After all, it’s a well-known fact that the game is received well on both platforms, despite the server issues that are yet to be fixed.
Do you think there’s a particular reason why the game isn’t holding the same player count as its PC variant? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
