Yes the likely interpretation is still limited map choice just less restricted from some maps being in lower / higher difficulty now being available to all =/
Its more alive than in the past post launch was the worst around 4k to current 14k peak it may not be as healthy as can be but not dead and by the end of the month another big injection of players is incoming…so not sure what QoL you think is needed beyond some class reworks.
true but anything less than 50k is truthfully not really worth talking about. its still not a viable player base by any stretch.
them adding core mechanics even if labeling QoL improvements would be a welcome change. fact they loosing to competition in genre despite success of 2 prior games is beyond sad…
Less than 50k? My dude it is a horde shooter, that genre is not going to consistently pull 50k players. As much as we compare this to HD2 or Deep Rock, those are the gold standard to aspire to, not the norm. Killing floor also typically has about 4k consistent players in between updates.
It’s like people just see lower number out of context and all of a sudden the sky is falling.
Considering how similar (if not worse) player counts on VT games were and the fact that FS didn’t abandon them, I’m not concerned.
You don’t forgo almost 2 years of consistent, meaningful content while releasing on 2 more consoles just to abandon it.
Anything to make those two shut up really.
I think the lamentation is more on how Fatshark has always squanders the potential they had. First impressions matter and a half-baked release, a clear focus on monetisation over almost everything else, player hostile design on everything apart from the actual mission gameplay, combined with a noticeable callous disregard for early adopters has not done any favours on how Fatshark and Darktide are regarded, especially since this is not their first rodeo and they keep making the same mistakes or mistakes that have been solved previously.
Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely in the love/hate relationship with FS too regarding squandered potential.
However, I’m also gonna call out absurd expectations like 50k concurrent players in a horde shooter during the “off-season”. It just ain’t gonna happen and anyone that bases success/failure on that metric is either a doomer or ignorant of the industry at large.
Yeah, HELLDIVERS 2 of all games drops to like 20-30k on low points.
50K is definitely an unrealistic expectation, for sure. Looking at its track record, even 30K would be massive for Darktide. I definitely anticipate a temporary surge in popularity when the Arbitrator Archetype drops, but not a “50K Active Players” surge.
yeah, sure.
how come the best quality matches i had was when the playerbase was around 3-4k ?
cause every hans and klaus with a pad in one and a joint in the other hand went to the next "hot 
" and made the game experience a better one for not dragging his carcass into auric maelstrom when he’s even unfit for malice.
i highly doubt those briefly pumping the numbers when they return for the next update are going to create any revenue in the long run to keep servers going.
its those playing constant since the beta and buying the dlc or the odd cosmetic that keep the lights on.
50k, i shudder at how many sandbags would try to get an easy carry through higher difficulties 
and theres reasons i stay away from “spring break-mentality”, mass appealing stuff that attracts “numbers” cause the quality in players you can then look for with a microscope.
and seeing how vermintide 2 still seems to be worth keeping around for fs, i wager we’ll have a few years of darktide left.
Yeah and DRG hovered between 20-30k for a very long time, dropping significantly since devs are working on Rogue Core and not providing updates.
So looking at DRG and HD2 I think we can say a succesful game in this genre would have 50k peaks on new content drops and hovering between 20-30k otherwise.
Now Darktide is definitely less accessible than both those games, but struggles more than it should and I would definitely say there’s a lot of squandered potential.
How are the two Vermintides ‘still going strong’ when combined they don’t even have a third the Playercount Darktide has…?
Also a lot of QoL is already done via Mods, what DT needs are more frequent and larger Updates and not drip-fed Updates once in a blue Moon. More Weapons and more Maps more often and new Enemies and not just recycled / reskins / recolours of Stuff.
true we def need more updates/maps. and it effing sucks modders have to fix issues in game also. i have same issue with bethesda and the dumb UESP. this game is a glorified alpha its so poorly made.
let me rephrase. as an aussie gaming outside of core USA time line any game that takes 2+ hours to get a PUG match… not viable long term.
why i deem anything sub 50k to be more or less dead.
sure in peak overlap can get some fun matches but its not a financially sustainable model
We’ll see new weapons or a map at best in like September or October.
Since we do already know that this update will just them be reworking the mission terminal since if they were gonna add new weapons or a mission Fatshark would’ve mentioned that in the Arbites post. And how Fatshark works, it doesn’t do surprises. What they say in a post is what you’re getting, nothing more, nothing less.
while i dig the mad max vibe i dont think you can “blame” a games accessibility based on geographical locations and call it “dead” for the whole playerbase.
sure, you got problems finding people in that area and i bet it sucks.
yet i wager the larger percentage of the remaining playerbase isnt even aware of this “problem” or truth be told unaffected.
aint the asia servers better latency wise anyways?
i mean i rise an eyebrow if the ping exceeds 70, must be in the hundreds across that distance, no?
Please get me out of this country, bro… 
valid but more often than not gamers prefer to play USA for the fellow english vibe and latency not that big an issue. not many LPB’s exist these days vs early days of gaming.
when in doubt skill > speed majority of cases.
i will admit though ex wow player. used to playing in pre aus server day of 800ms lag and still set world first raid runs. you learn how to adapt well.
I (think I) get you, I may just be more patient in such things. Whatever the update will bring, I’ll see it when it’s there, and I cherish the sweet uncertainty until then. 
30-day player count on Steam Charts:
| Month | Avg. Players | Gain | % Gain | Peak Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermintide 1 | 44.8 | +8.6 | +23.67% | 139 |
| Vermintide 2 | 2,497.8 | +386.8 | +18.32% | 5,697 |
| Darktide | 7,453.5 | +1,725.4 | +30.12% | 15,690 |
If so (and I beg to differ), how are VT 1+2 “still going strong”, like you claimed, with around 2,500 players on average in the last 30 days combined? (98% coming from VT 2)
And which games do you see as their competition?