2024 is packed with a massive amount of highly anticipated titles. From games like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Stalker 2, Black Myth Wukong, and more. This isn’t including the titles that we have already seen released so far this year such as Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth, Persona 3 Reloaded, and Suicide Squad To Kill the Justice League. This is just a short list of big releases so far this year. However, there have been some incredible breakout successes that not many analysts could have predicted. These two titles are Palworld and of course the most recent success with Helldivers 2.
Helldivers 2 Breaks Through Expectations
Palworld, which combined the cuteness of Pokemon with guns. It was an instant hit with Xbox and PC players with the title finding massive success in a very short period of time. Now the most recent success is Helldivers 2 from Arrowhead Game Studios. The sequel to 2015’s Helldivers, already had some buzz around the sequel due to the new direction of the game. The original 2015 title was an action-packed top-down shooter that had developed a cult following in its early days. Helldivers 2 was shown as a fully redesigned third-person multiplayer shooter. Many people compared it to Outriders in its early trailer reveals.
Now fast forward to post-launch, and Helldivers 2 is smashing through every expectation that both the developer and fans had expected. It continues to climb up the Steam charts, as over 350k are currently playing Helldivers 2 concurrently on Steam alone. That does not account for players who are also playing on PlayStation 5, which has a very strong player base as well. Unfortunately, we cannot draw accurate data concerning console numbers unless the developer or publisher shares these details.
But one has to wonder what has caused the massive success of Helldivers 2. There are so many different factors that can cause a game to explode in popularity. Some arguably good games have fallen flat at launch I think a multitude of factors have perfectly aligned for Helldivers 2 to achieve the massive success it has found. With these successes, however, there have been some hard challenges as well.
Finding The Perfect Release Date
Perhaps one of the biggest struggles publishers of all sizes have struggled with is finding a good release date. Games are released on a weekly basis. It is becoming increasingly hard for publishers to find an open gap for their games. This issue is further exasperated by publishers feeling more and more pressure from shareholders to deliver higher and higher profits every fiscal year. Instead of reporting low numbers in a specific quarter, and releasing a solid product in the following quarter. Many publishers are releasing often broken games into the market to the dismay of many consumers. This leads to the game receiving bad reviews from both media and players. Then a few weeks post-launch we receive the generic press release in regards to a game “performing below publisher expectations”.
On the flip side, we have seen plenty of games receive disastrous results due to poor release dates. Titanfall 2 is perhaps the most memorable of these mistakes. As it was released one week after the release of Battlefield 1, and a week before Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare. The Titanfall 2 player base was quickly cannibalized by these two bigger IPs and ultimately led to Respawn shelving the franchise.
Underestimating Release Dates is Just as Tricky
Helldivers 2 has seemingly struck gold with its February release date as there are not any games similar to it in this window. Historically, early spring is a good release window for non-blockbuster IP games. Too many publishers attempt to release their titles during the holiday season. While it is true that a massive load of gaming software and hardware is sold during the holiday season. Quite often the sales charts during this period are dominated only by the biggest IPs. For example, in November 2023 the 4 biggest games in the United States for the month were Call Of Duty Modern Warfare III, Spider-Man 2, Hogwarts Legacy, and Madden 24. Only the biggest games survive the holiday season. Too many smaller titles have been dead on arrival thanks to these massive titles.
Sometimes it feels like publishers underestimate how much of an impact a similar title can have on the sales of their game. We saw it in particular with Horizon Forbidden West which launched a week before Elden Ring. While Horizon Forbidden West was a fantastic game, which did in turn sell a great volume of units. I wonder however though if Sony had perhaps waited a month then maybe Forbidden West could have gotten more of the publicity and shine that it deserved. Elden Ring held both the sales charts and social media in a chokehold for several months after its release. However, at the time, it was almost impossible to predict how massive Elden Ring was going to be.
The Price Is Right
Subscription services such as PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass have helped to soften the blow of increased game prices for many over the past few years. A brand new release targeting $70 USD or often over $100 in other currencies has created a discussion around the true value of the product being delivered. This has caused many video game players to have to budget a bit more. Naturally, this leads them to become more picky with which games they purchase. With the current state of our economy with inflation and stagnated wages, this isn’t too much of a surprise. With the current outlook of the world, it likely will get worse for many of us before it gets better.
The $70 argument continues to rage on almost 4 years later after it was rolled out. However, Arrowhead Game Studios avoided this entire conversation by releasing Helldivers 2 for $40. In a world where there are so many multiplayer games have switched to a free-to-play model with aggressive microtransactions. Having a game that has strict cosmetic microtransactions with most of them being able to be earned through playing the game is a breath of fresh air.
Many analysts have argued that multiplayer titles that are not free-to-play have a much harder path to success. But perhaps, Helldivers 2 has found the happy medium, of not charging the “standard” $70 entry fee. While still being able to extract value from their players without it feeling predatory. One of the worst parts of free-to-play games is often how gross and predatory the microtransactions feel. With skins and bundles often eclipsing $25, it becomes quite easy to overspend on a supposed free game.
The True Challenge Of Success For Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2’s overnight success is a massive win for both Arrowhead Game Studios and Sony. To have a game blow up in such a massive way is a development team’s dream. However, the long-term viability and success of the title is yet to be determined. As more people flood towards the game, server issues have become all too common for many players on PlayStation and PC. Players have quickly started leaving negative reviews on Steam. Social media feeds are filled with frustrated players who cannot log into servers or are constantly being disconnected in the middle of missions. It is impossible to predict how many players will be playing your game on day one. But one would have to think that all hands are on deck at Arrowhead and Sony, as they try to iron out the server and login issues.
Once launch issues are ironed out, it is up to Arrowhead to keep a consistent flow of content coming to the game to keep players coming back. No doubt, there are many challenges to building live service content. It is clear that Arrowhead already has a solid base which Helldivers 2 can continue to build upon. Hopefully, the developers can continue to learn and expand with this early success. Very few studios find this much success so early, especially in the live service space. I hope that as more of these service games come to fruition in the coming years, more publishers take the good and the bad lessons from the launch of Helldivers 2.
