Helldivers 2’s unexpected levels of early popularity were a surprise, but they were also deserved. With a sensible price point, great community building, and addictive co-op shooter action, it was a blast. In recent weeks, though, player counts have tumbled as the cadence of updates slowed down. However, the huge new Escalation of Freedom update has now arrived, and player numbers on Steam are already experiencing a massive surge.
To add some much-needed freshness to the co-op game, the Helldivers 2 Escalation of Freedom update is packed with new enemy types, bigger outposts, balance changes, and even a new level of difficulty for the hardiest of patriots. A couple of hours after the update dropped, a new Major Order was also sent out – it appears there are half a billion Terminids in need of extermination. On top of all this, a new Helldivers 2 Warbond is set to arrive later this week on Thursday, August 8. That’s a lot for players to be excited about, and it all seems to be having the desired effect.
Since the start of July, Helldivers 2 has been achieving daily concurrent player peaks of around 30,000 on Steam. This is by no means a paltry number – most live service games would kill for those kind of player counts on a consistent basis. However, it’s a considerable drop compared to the kind of numbers it was achieving in the first three or four months of its life.
However, at the time of writing, which is roughly 12 hours after the Escalation of Freedom update dropped, Steam statistics show Helldivers 2 achieving around 62,000 concurrent players. That’s a pretty impressive uptick, and is roughly double what it has been achieving in recent days. We’ll have to wait and see whether Helldivers 2 can hold on to these returning players and re-establish a higher level of consistent player activity.
The Helldivers 2 Escalation of Freedom update is out now, and you can learn more about what’s new in this latest patch over on Steam.
Of course, there are also plenty of other live service multiplayer games and upcoming PC games that are vying for your attention. But for now, at least, there are certainly positive signs for the citizens of Super Earth.
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