Helldivers 2 becomes Sony's biggest PC launch, peaking at over 81k concurrent players
Helldivers 2 has just launched on Steam and PlayStation 5, and player interest is definitely there. The game has already become Sony’s biggest launch on Steam in terms of peak concurrent players.
According to SteamDB, Helldivers 2 peaked at 81,840 concurrent players on Valve’s platform. There is a chance that it may reach even bigger numbers over the weekend, when more people will be able to play the game.
But even with the 81k peak, Arrowhead Game Studios’ new co-op shooter already ranks 4th in peak CCU among new Steam releases of 2024. It is way above other successful games like Tekken 8 (49.9k CCU), Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (46k CCU), and Persona 3 Reload 3 (45k CCU):
- Palworld — 2.1 million CCU;
- Enshrouded — 160.4k CCU;
- Granblue Fantasy: Relink — 114k CCU;
- Helldivers 2 — 81k CCU;
- Tekken 8 — 49.9k CCU;
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth — 46.1k CCU.
- Persona 3 Reload — 45k CCU;
- Gu Long Fengyun Lu (古龙风云录) — 15.4k CCU;
- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League — 13.4k CCU;
- Summoners War (PC release) — 12.7k CCU.
When looking at other games published by PlayStation, Helldivers 2 managed to overtake the launch of God of War, which peaked at 73.5k concurrent players upon its Steam release in 2022. It is above all other ports of Sony’s first-party titles, including Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered (66.4k CCU), Horizon Zero Dawn (56.5k CCU), and The Last of Us Part I (36.4k CCU).
Note that unlike former PlayStation exclusives, Helldivers 2 launched simultaneously on PS5 and PC. This definitely contributed to the game’s strong launch.
Top 10 PlayStation games on Steam by peak concurrent players (via SteamDB)
Despite an impressive player count, Helldivers 2 currently has a “Mixed” rating on Steam, with 69% of the 10k user reviews being positive. The main criticism is aimed at crashes, bugs, matchmaking, and Arrowhead’s decision to use the nProtect Gameguard anti-cheat, which some players call unsafe.
However, the studio has already addressed the issues, announcing the patch that should fix the most critical problems. “Thank you — seriously — for your patience,” game director Mikael Eriksson said in a statement. “We really want you all to have a blast playing this game. Bear with us, we’re almost there.”
Founded in 2008, Arrowhead Game Studios is Swedish developer best known for games like Magicka and Gauntlet. It first partnered with PlayStation in 2015 for Helldivers, which also became the first title that Sony published on PC.
