Helldivers 2 Loses 90% of Players - Inside Games Roundup

Summary

This episode of 'Inside Games' discusses the rapid decline in player numbers for 'Helldivers 2', a once popular live service game. It also covers the cancellation of planned DLC for 'GTA 5' due to the overwhelming success of 'GTA Online'. The hosts touch on the community's frustration with 'Elden Ring's' unaddressed performance issues on PC and the cancellation of the 'Horizon' Netflix series. They end on a lighter note with a heartwarming story about a speedrunning dog named Peanut Butter and provide a roundup of upcoming game releases.

Takeaways

• 🎮 Helldivers 2's player base has drastically dropped, with a 90% decrease from its peak, signaling a potential issue for live service games reliant on active players.
• 📉 Sony's requirement for PC players to link a PlayStation Network account to their Steam account for Helldivers 2 was met with backlash and has since been reversed.
• 🚀 Despite a sharp decline, Helldivers 2 still maintains a significant player base on PC, suggesting that live service games can recover with new content updates.
• 🔥 The success of GTA Online overshadowed the development of single-player DLC for GTA 5, with Rockstar prioritizing the lucrative online platform over additional content.
• 🛑 Elden Ring's developers, FromSoftware, have advised players to fix performance issues themselves, which has been met with frustration from the community.
• 📺 The Netflix adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn has been halted, reportedly due to issues with the showrunner's behavior, leaving the project's future uncertain.
• 🐶 A heartwarming story from Summer Games Done Quick features a dog named Peanut Butter who 'won' a game of Major League Baseball, bringing joy to viewers.
• 🌟 The upcoming game 'Once Human' promises a multiplayer open-world survival experience set in a post-apocalyptic future, allowing players to rebuild their world.
• 🌳 'Ark of Karen' offers a unique blend of tower defense and colony simulation, where players build a mobile fortress on a giant walking tree.
• ✈️ 'Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown' brings realistic aerial combat to the Nintendo Switch, providing a full 360° movement experience for players.
• 👢 'Anger Foot' is a fast-paced AC FPS game that emphasizes the intensity of both combat and music, set for release on PC.

Q & A

What is the main topic discussed at the beginning of the video?

The main topic discussed at the beginning is the decline in popularity and player base of Hell Divers 2.

How many copies did Hell Divers 2 sell shortly after its release?

Hell Divers 2 sold 8 million copies on PlayStation and PC within a month of its release.

What significant player statistic is mentioned for Hell Divers 2?

The game hit more than 458,000 concurrent players two weeks after launch.

What was the 24-hour peak player count for Hell Divers 2 on Steam, as checked on Friday?

The 24-hour peak player count was just over 46,000.

Why did Sony face backlash from Hell Divers 2 players?

Sony faced backlash for requiring PC players to link a PlayStation Network account to their Steam account to continue playing the game.

What reason did Joseph Rubino give for the cancellation of GTA 5 story DLC?

Joseph Rubino stated that the success of GTA Online made Rockstar change its priorities, making the argument for standalone DLC less compelling.

What issue is highlighted with the PC performance of Elden Ring's DLC 'Shadow of the Erdtree'?

The PC performance issues include struggling to hit 60 frames per second and overall instability.

What solution does FromSoftware suggest for PlayStation 5 players experiencing frame rate issues in Elden Ring?

FromSoftware suggests rebooting the console in safe mode and using the rebuild database option.

What happened to the Horizon series planned for Netflix?

The Horizon series is apparently stalled and not moving forward, likely due to allegations of toxic behavior by its showrunner, Steve Blackman.

Who is Peanut Butter and what did he achieve at Summer Games Done Quick?

Peanut Butter is a Shiba Inu who won a game of 'Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball' by hitting a walk-off home run.

Outlines

00:00

📉 Helldivers 2's Player Base Plummets

The video script discusses the rapid decline in the player base for Helldivers 2, a once highly popular co-op third-person shooter game developed by Arrowhead Game Studios. Despite its initial success, with 8 million copies sold and a peak of 458,000 concurrent players, the game's 24-hour peak player count dropped to just over 46,000, a nearly 90% decrease. The script mentions Sony's controversial decision requiring PC players to link a PlayStation Network account to their Steam account, which angered fans and may have contributed to the decline. The discussion also touches on the challenges of maintaining a live service game and the hope for a resurgence with new content updates.

05:03

🚫 Cancelled GTA 5 DLC and the Dominance of GTA Online

This paragraph reveals the cancellation of planned DLC for GTA 5, including 'Agent Trevor' and other expansions like 'Zombie Apocalypse' and 'Alien Invasion'. The cancellation is attributed to the overwhelming success of GTA Online, which became a significant revenue generator for Rockstar, overshadowing the potential benefits of standalone DLCs. Joseph Rubino, a former Rockstar employee, confirmed that the 'Agent Trevor' DLC was about halfway developed before being scrapped. The script also speculates on the impact this focus on GTA Online might have on the future of GTA 6 and its potential DLCs.

10:04

🐾 Squirrel on Water Skis and Other Game News

The script wraps up with a lighter note, featuring a segment on a speedrunning dog named Peanut Butter who won a game of 'King Griffy Junior Presents Major League Baseball' at the Summer Games Done Quick event. The crowd's enthusiastic reaction to the dog's victory is highlighted. Additionally, the script mentions the cancellation of the Netflix series based on the game 'Horizon Zero Dawn' due to issues with the showrunner, Steve Blackman. Lastly, it provides a brief overview of upcoming game releases, including 'Once Human', 'Ark of Karen', 'Ace Combat 7 Skies Unknown', 'Anger Foot', and 'Wast Lander', with their respective launch dates and game features.

Keywords

💡Hell Divers 2

Hell Divers 2 is a cooperative third-person shooter game developed by Arrowhead Game Studios. It is central to the video's theme of the volatile nature of video game popularity. The game initially experienced a massive surge in popularity, selling 8 million copies within a month of its release and hitting over 458,000 concurrent players on PC two weeks after launch. However, the video discusses how the player base dramatically declined, which is a critical issue for a live service game like Hell Divers 2, as it relies on an active community to sustain its gameplay.

💡Live Service Game

A live service game is a type of video game that is continually updated and maintained over time, often with new content and features. This model is heavily reliant on retaining an active player base. In the context of the video, Hell Divers 2 is described as a live service game, and its sharp decline in players is a significant concern because the game's success depends on continuous engagement from its community.

💡GTA 5

Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) is a popular open-world game developed by Rockstar Games. The video discusses the lack of downloadable content (DLC) for GTA 5, which was a point of contention among fans who expected more expansions similar to those of its predecessor, GTA 4. The script reveals that planned DLCs were canceled due to the overwhelming success of GTA Online, which became a significant source of revenue for Rockstar.

💡DLC

DLC stands for Downloadable Content, which refers to additional content that can be downloaded and installed to expand and enhance a base video game. The video script mentions the cancellation of DLCs for both Hell Divers 2 and GTA 5, highlighting the challenges and decisions game developers face in maintaining and expanding their games.

💡Elden Ring

Elden Ring is an action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware, known for its challenging gameplay and rich world-building. The video discusses the performance issues of the game's DLC, 'Shadow of the Earth Tree,' particularly on PC, where players have experienced poor performance despite having high-end hardware. This issue has led to dissatisfaction among the player community.

💡Performance Issues

Performance issues in video games refer to technical problems that affect the game's operation, such as low frame rates, lag, or instability. The video mentions performance issues in the context of Elden Ring's DLC, where even players with high-end PCs have struggled with the game's performance, leading to criticism from the community.

💡Horizon Series

The Horizon series refers to the potential Netflix adaptation of the Horizon Zero Dawn video game. The video script reports that the series has been canceled, allegedly due to issues with the showrunner's behavior. This cancellation is an example of how external factors, such as production challenges, can impact the adaptation of video games into other media.

💡Summer Games Done Quick

Summer Games Done Quick is an annual event where speedrunners compete to complete video games as quickly as possible, often for charity. The video script highlights a light-hearted moment from the event, where a dog named Peanut Butter 'won' a game of Major League Baseball, showcasing the community and fun aspects of such events.

💡Speedrunning

Speedrunning is the act of completing a video game or a part of it in the fastest time possible. It is often a competitive activity and has become a subculture within the gaming community. In the video, speedrunning is mentioned in the context of Peanut Butter, a dog who 'played' an NES game at Summer Games Done Quick, adding a whimsical note to the discussion.

💡Game Lifecycle

The game lifecycle refers to the stages a game goes through from its initial release to eventual decline in popularity. The video script discusses this concept in the context of Hell Divers 2's rapid rise and fall, illustrating the unpredictable nature of a game's popularity over time.

💡Crossplay

Crossplay is a feature that allows players on different gaming platforms to play together. The video mentions crossplay in the context of Hell Divers 2, where despite a significant drop in the player base on PC, the game still benefits from crossplay with PlayStation, potentially mitigating the impact of the decline.

Highlights

Hell Divers 2, once a breakout hit, has experienced a significant drop in player count, raising concerns for live service games reliant on active player bases.

GTA 5's lack of DLC is attributed to the overwhelming success of Grand Theft Auto Online, which has made single-player expansions less of a priority for Rockstar.

Elden Ring's developers suggest that players fix performance issues themselves, highlighting the ongoing struggles with PC optimization.

The cancellation of the Horizon Netflix series is reported, possibly due to issues with the showrunner's behavior, leaving the future of the adaptation uncertain.

A speedrunning dog named Peanut Butter wins a game at Summer Games Done Quick, showcasing the fun and unique aspects of the event.

Hell Divers 2's rapid decline in popularity raises questions about the sustainability of live service games and their business models.

Sony's requirement for PC players to link a PlayStation Network account to Steam for Hell Divers 2 was met with backlash and later reversed.

The cancellation of GTA 5's planned DLC, such as 'Agent Trevor,' highlights the impact of GTA Online's success on Rockstar's development priorities.

FromSoftware's advice for Elden Ring PC performance issues includes disabling third-party mouse applications and ensuring ray tracing is not unintentionally enabled.

The frustration of the Elden Ring community with ongoing performance issues is evident, with some players resorting to sarcasm and criticism.

The cancellation of the Horizon series on Netflix may be related to allegations of toxic behavior by the showrunner, Steve Blackman.

A human interest story about a dog named Peanut Butter playing NES games at Summer Games Done Quick brings a light-hearted moment to the show.

New game releases for the week include 'Once Human,' a multiplayer open-world survival game, and 'Ark of Karen,' a unique tower defense and colony simulation game.

The upcoming game 'Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown' brings realistic aerial combat to the Nintendo Switch, offering full 360° movement and photorealistic skies.

The game 'Anger Foot' is described as a lightning-fast AC FPS, emphasizing the intensity and action of the gameplay.

In the game 'Wasteland Lander,' players must build a colony and survive on a desolate planet, managing resources and unlocking unique buildings.

Transcripts

welcome to inside games the only show

brave enough to say hell divers 2 is

dead forever and it's never coming back

ever it really just completes the life

cycle of video games doesn't it one week

it's the most popular thing in the world

the next week it's uh it's gone it's

gone forever and here we are the media

to report on both so uh we got a lot

more stories coming up today aside from

just tell divers 2 reporting on why GTA

5 never got that story DLC we heard

about a million years ago we got a

moders of fixed attitude coming from

someone other than Bethesda for a change

and also apparently the Horizon Netflix

series isn't happening anymore so lots

to cover on this week's inside games

Roundup all right let's start off with

hell divers 2 and the headline uh it's

players are gone they um they're they're

they're missing uh just a few months ago

as you know hell divers 2 breakout hit

of 2024 it was the toast of the town uh

the co-op third person shooter from

Arrowhead game studios it released in

February only took a month to sell 8

million copies on PlayStation and PC so

Hu I mean it was it was the live service

game yeah yeah and the game which is

published by Sony was particularly just

a massive hit on PC hitting more than

458,000 concurrent players two weeks

after launch that's crazy yeah but since

then the game's been in a free fall

unfortunately we checked steamdb on

Friday the game's 24-hour Peak then was

just over 46,000 players so about 10% of

its top yeah it was almost a 90% drop

now you're going to say BG most games

lose their players over time Starfield

famously lost 97% of its steam players

in less than 6 months but a little bit

different in this case yeah Starfield is

a single player game so for a live

service game like hell divers 2 such a

plunge could be catastrophic because

obviously if there's nobody to play with

there's really no game yeah I it's

aggravating cuz hell divers 2 was doing

it the right way and if it can't keep

players around doing things the right

way doesn't really set a good precedent

uh and speaking of doing things the

right way Sony didn't do the game any

favors either um this was kind of a this

was an interesting dust up Sony really

annoyed a bunch of Hell divers fans a

few months ago when they announced that

PC players would need to link a

Playstation network account to their

Steam account in order to keep playing

the game that they had already bought

players are mad Sony backed down uh

we'll see if they can recover but this

sucks for Sony because this was their

big fora into live Services games and

it's Ian off to a huge start but it's

kind of looking like a flash in the pan

uh don't worry guys I have some good

news at the end of this story as Paul

tassi of Forbes wrote the last few

months have proven how hard that success

could be to maintain for even a short

amount of time given the wellestablished

competition in these spaces so I will

say 50,000 players is pretty good six

months and that's only on PC not on

Playstation so there's crossplay I just

played last

night uh and I had a blast it was great

people were on I was I was having fun

and uh this this is much like any other

live service game like a Destiny or

whatever as they release more content

they'll get a boost everybody will play

and they'll go back to playing uh you

know Skyrim or what yeah it kind of

reminds me of Apex Legends a little bit

like huge huge start then it fell off

but now it's settled and uh you know

it's got its base and it seems to be

doing fine yeah there's there's been

other games that have come out I I don't

think the developers themselves expected

or anyone expected to you know be

revving it 100% all the time like Bruce

said these things come and go there's a

heartbeat to it people come for new

content they play and enjoy it then they

get lured Away by other games that have

new content so uh I I guess what just

strikes me is every single game has this

headline at some point because it always

happens you know this is just part of

the life cycle so hopefully in a couple

months from now when they release new

content update we'll be able to report

that their players have surged 500%

overnight or something like that there's

always a fun little metric to stretch

there well Lawrence speaking of new

content I have I know I have a reason

why GTA 5 never got any new content

Brian tell us all about it yeah so you

we've all played GTA 5 a very very

popular game uh but over the years uh

there was a little there was a little

consternation from players cuz they

everyone wondered why it never got any

DLC and it sucked because Rockstar

released so much good DLC for GTA 4 uh

and according to a data mine last year

there was a planned DLC pack named agent

Trevor along with other expansions

called Zombie apoc alypse and alien

alien invasion that sounds awesome yeah

Rockstar was talking about it very

definitely for a very short amount of

time um and now we know why it never

happened and honestly if you were kind

of if you reading between the lines the

whole time you knew it was Grand Theft

Auto online it just made too much money

to Warren spending time on anything else

yeah we learned this from the game

cinematics editor Joseph Rubino who was

a senior camera artist and a virtual

cinematographer at Rockstar in an

interview on the YouTube channel s and

play Rabino said that he worked on the

Trevor DLC before it was cancelled uh

Rabino said that the success of GTA

online made Rockstar change its

priorities when GTA came out uh GTA

online it was so um so much of a cash

cow and people were loving it so much

that it was hard to make a argument that

a standalone DLC would would would out

compete that Rino said that the agent

Trevor DLC was about halfway done before

it just got asked yeah and it sounded

cool it lines up with an interview that

Trevor's voice actor Steven OG gave in

April when he discussed the story's

dlc's cancellation he said that Trevor

was going to be undercover he was

working with the feds we did shoot some

of that stuff with James Bond Trevor

where he's still kind of a [ __ ] up but

he's doing his best that sounded cool

this would have been great uh we all

know why they canceled every single

thing they were doing because GTA online

was printing money and still is so you

know good luck on GTA six DLC I don't

think that's ever going to happen it's

like we say all games fall off except

GTA online Counterstrike and Minecraft

they never they will live forever

there's a handful of eternal games yeah

that's for sure which makes me wonder

about yeah how are they going to do

anything when GTA online's in the room

because it's just going to keep doing

its thing so maybe GTA 6 will just be a

single player game and that's it or

you'll get some Bon I don't know who

knows uh speaking of not knowing what to

do or how to add to your own game uh we

have a weird instance where Elden ring

developers are telling fans to fix DLC

issues themselves so we're talking about

uh shadow of the earth tree uh which has

been a huge success uh sold more than 5

million copies breathed new life into a

game that was already a top best of for

2022 uh so uh very well-received game

the PS5 version got a 95 on Metacritic

Kotaku called it nothing short of

magnificent mm there's just one issue

the PC performance has not been great it

really has not still God yeah it's

really not been good frame rate

struggling to hit 60 frames a second

even in performance mode I mean i' got a

4090 and the thing still hitches so like

I don't I there ain't much I got to do

there yeah it's super unstable a

Japanese game with poor PC

performance I guess we ought to count

our blessings at least it's on PC in the

first

place anyway digital Foundry

reinvestigated the game after the DLC

released and wrote that long-standing

Tech issues remain unaddressed that was

one of my first takeaways I I walked

forward for 5 seconds and I was like oh

my God it's the same they didn't they

didn't update it at all um yeah but a

new patch is out and from software they

have a great suggestion if we're having

issues let's fix it

ourselves they want me to code or

something in the patch notes for update

1.1 2.3 there's a section called

possible unstable performance fixes and

it's not encouraging uh suggested that

PlayStation 5 players having frame rate

issues reboot their consoles in safe

mode and use the rebuild database option

and do you think that actually works for

anybody sometimes I feel like it might

just be a little Placebo recommendation

you know yeah uh speaking of for PC

players from advises them to disable

thirdparty Mouse applications and ensure

that rate tracing hadn't been

unintentionally enabled which is a good

suggestion cuz that really does kill

performance but that's not the most

pleasing thing to hear usually you just

want to hear boom it's 20% better yeah

and uh you know who also wasn't pleased

people who bought the game Reddit user

Regner wrote with more than a little

sarcasm performance issues we think it's

you yep now go ahead and do stuff no

other game requires because it's your

pc/ PS5 fault user 7 fists added quote

literally no other AAA game requires

this amount of [ __ ] around with fixes

and workarounds just to get decent base

performance they've had years to fix

their performance issues in the base

game and their answer is a DLC that not

only performs worse but that also

creates additional issues in the base

game and it's such a good game yeah it's

a great game it's not great but come on

this some of this is starting to be it

sounds like reddits getting themselves

all worked up again it's still really

good all right and it runs not great but

it runs and it's gorgeous so come on all

right all right all right all right all

right all right I just the the way that

they like list things back to themselves

and being like and it doesn't make and

it's worse and it makes the game worse

just like you can almost hear somebody

getting angrier as they type maybe just

play the game it sucks but maybe from

software I think I feel like maybe

getting a little cocky at this point

because they're just like uh whatever

[ __ ] off like we sold a [ __ ] a [ __ ] ton

of [ __ ] games so eat it eat [ __ ]

here's something people on Reddit won't

have a chance to get mad about uh cuz

it's been canceled before it came out

the Horizon series is apparently not

happening on Netflix anymore yeah uh

Rolling Stone reports that the show

which was being developed by the

Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve

Blackman has sto and it's probably

stalled for a long time okay all right

well when the show was announced in 2022

Blackman said Horizon zero Dawn is an

exceptionally well-crafted game with

wonderful characters not often seen in

the rank and file of the gaming

world yeah I mean there's a reason in

the article Rolling Stone detail claims

that accus black men of toxic bullying

manipulative and retaliatory behavior

and I'm really glad cuz I never liked

the Umbrella Academy anyways uh yeah we

don't know at this point if it's been

entirely canned or if it'll continue

with maybe a less dickish showrunner we

we'll see it makes you wonder man how

how hard must he have pushed the

envelope to actually get pushed out like

that usually once you're in you're in

you you can scream with all the interns

you want

my the RO Stone reporter Cheyenne rry

added in a tweet that in addition to

Horizon a plan sci-fi series for

Blackman called orbital will also not be

moving forward so this is really bad

like clearly Blackman was was a real big

dick and probably did a lot of terrible

stuff well we got to bring the spirits

up all right a little human interest

tale this we're in the we're in the

squirrel on water skis segment of the

show uh this is great though peanut

butter uh holds a place in my heart and

will soon in yours because this

speedrunning dog has hit a walk-off home

run it's Summer Games Done Quick

happening right now yeah I like ending

on these These are fun so yeah at Summer

Games Done Quick uh Sheba Sheba Inu

named Peanut Butter won a game of and

this is a great title King griffy junor

presents Major League Baseball in a very

spectacular fashion I love his name is

peanut butter from uh Bojack uh peanut

butter is the dog of speedrunner jsr

uncore and he's able to play NES games

like gyromite by pushing buttons while

his owner gives him treats that's

adorable at Summer Games Done Quick

peanut butter was in Extra Innings

against the Minnesota Twins when the

dogs smacked a two-run homer to finish

the game yeah and the clip is great it

went viral the crowd just went nuts I it

was was awesome and jsr congratulated

peanut butter by telling him that he was

in fact a good boy go top of the lineup

excellent chance to take it go

go good boy you did it walk up oh my

God definitely he was definitely a good

boy they're all good boys so way to go

peanut butter all right let's do a

5-second review this for me was

incredibly humbling because my guy at

the end of the base game was just so

powerful just you know had this awesome

armor on and everything and I just got

rinsed immediately and it's I just God

do I want to play through I will but it

it's just like humble it's like going

from like Middle School to high school

and you're like oh I'm not [ __ ] anymore

these seniors look like grown men that's

that's my review I thought after all

these years from software couldn't piss

me off anymore but I was wrong I was so

wrong so here are the games that are

releasing this coming week first up

we've got once human this is a

multiplayer open world survival game set

in a strange post-apocalyptic future

Unite with friends to fight monstrous

enemies uncover secret plots compete for

resources and build your own territory

once you were merely human now you have

the power to remake the world this game

Launches on July 9th up next Ark of

Karen build a mobile fortress on the

back of a giant and mysterious walking

tree and embark on a journey in this

merge of Tower Defense and Colony

simulation it comes to PC July 9th

complain to the trees manager yeah Ace

Combat 7 Skies unknown become an ace

pilot and soar through photorealistic

Skies with full 360° movement down enemy

aircraft and experience the thrill of

engaging in realistic sorties aerial

combat has never looked or felt better

comes to the switch July 11th the day is

finally here anger foot is a lightning

fast AC FPS were the only things harder

than your ass kicking feet are the ass

kicking beats it's gamees releasing for

PC on July 11th uh up next Wast Lander

it's a turn-based strategy game where

you must survive and escape from a

desolate Planet ravaged by powerful

storms build a colony from nothing find

and unlock unique buildings and

reactivate powerful relics to protect

yourself will you survive and get off

the planet no you're going to die a lot

PC July 12th very cool man good crop

this week speaking of good crops Bruce

this show is supported by a lot of

wonderful Patriot good eggs uh and we'd

just like to shout a few of them out at

the end of the episode here Jared

Watkins old baby leg Ian McGee DJ Kento

shaky pants Brandon young Matt

bogenberger and cash putam thank you

very very much my crop is even better

than that last crop Greg wolf uesc

battle Roy J Embers 87 Christian Morgan

Anderson Kyle Hatton Brian cin Ron

Hoover and crab foam

[Music]