V2 vs DRG (numbers)

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 General Discussion
1

I just got the idea to look at the number of players over time for these two games and the comparison is very interesting. While Vermintide 2 only peaked at launch and during the 2023 Winter Event, and players are still declining, Deep Rock Galactic is growing regardless of events.

My opinion is that it’s because of access to mods, because the more mods a game has, the more options there are to enjoy it and the more everyone can customize it to their liking. Personally, whenever an interesting mod for DRG appears every few days, I immediately turn on the game because I want to try it. Whereas I turn on V2 basically only during events, because otherwise nothing happens in the game.

V2 has better graphics, more interesting combat, and even deeper lore, yet it’s slowly dying while DRG is growing.

So please devs, realize this and do something about EAC which is constantly having problems and start sanctioning mods again. Don’t let this good game die.

V2 vs DRG
V2 vs DRG977×720 97.3 KB

2 Likes
2

I don’t even like DRG. I don’t like the pastel colors, the bugs, the mining, or the pipe-building. And yet I bought and played it purely because of its reputation. The developers built strong goodwill by being transparent and responsive to the community. That’s what a lot of players seem to want more of from Fatshark.

But DRG isn’t thriving because of mods or community alone. It was designed from the ground up for replayability. Procedural level generation is the backbone. Weapon overclocks and mission mutators layer even more long-term variation on top of that.

Vermintide 2 does have Chaos Wastes, and for the more-part, players like it, but it’s siloed. It never became the core progression backbone of the game.

DRG also adopted seasonal updates with free battle passes, giving players consistent reasons to return. Its cosmetic rewards feel frequent and visible. In VT2, cosmetics are either a long grind or paid, and the in between feels thin.

There’s also a structural difference: handcrafted, immersive levels with bespoke dialogue, music, and art are incredible, but they age faster. Procedural systems stay fresher longer because the variation is systemic, not authored.

DRG isn’t a sensory experience like Vermintide 2 or Darktide. It’s more generic aesthetically. But it’s built to be easily adapted to new content and experience.

Fatshark can absolutely improve things. But the issue isn’t just mod policy. It’s that DRG was made for endless systemic variation, and the VT2 was made for handcrafted intensity. They’re just different games.

All that said, I would really love it if Fatshark did something akin to what Darktide does to allow mods, and had more support for it.

5 Likes
3

While there is some support questions that can be asked, I think a quite sizeable component is the Melee><Ranged difference

Same way that games like Mordhau, Chivalry, and similar are also quite less popular than their “ranged focused” equivalent games

3 Likes
4

I agree. Mods are not the only thing, but they are a big part of any game that lasts. (for example Skyrim, Witcher 3, Doom, Diablo, Fallout… they would be dead long time ago, but because of modders and mods, they are still pretty alive)