20 replies to this topic

[Zolaz]

I was wondering if anyone had any idea what our player retention is? I know that it seems hard to keep track of for players, since there is little to no data available. Maybe someone could send up a smoke signal and ask the devs?

Hey Tina, if you are alive, do you mind asking?

[Dracol]

Steam makes public player numbers for their games. Mwo's steam stats don't include vetern players logging in on outside of steam, however it can still give an idea on new player retention.

Quick google search and we find http://steamcharts.c.../?q=Mechwarrior

30 day player average only has a very minor drop of 0.13%. We're either retaining majority of payers or replacing em as fast as we lose em.

[Satan n stuff]

Dracol, on 01 January 2016 - 07:39 AM, said:

Steam makes public player numbers for their games. Mwo's steam stats don't include vetern players logging in on outside of steam, however it can still give an idea on new player retention.

Quick google search and we find http://steamcharts.c.../?q=Mechwarrior

30 day player average only has a very minor drop of 0.13%. We're either retaining majority of payers or replacing em as fast as we lose em.

Looks stable to me.

[C I L L I P U D D I]

You're going to get a lot of loaded answers. The bitter jaded Vets will say "New Players have and will hate this game because I hate this game, and should leave immediately to screw over PGI." The other extreme will be "OMG the game population is growing so much, we'll be the top game in the world within the next month."

I tend to judge a games "popularity" by its Twitch following, which in the case of MWO has risen significantly since the Steam launch. The more people are watching it on Twitch the more advert the game gets, that in turn will and has lead to a rise in population growth.

As far as "retention" goes, I see a lot(not all) but a lot of the people I played with 3 years ago. There is a bigger population right now due solely to the Steam launch. Will these players stay or leave, probably 50/50. As much as I see people complain on the forums about this game, it's honestly growing more day by day.

[C E Dwyer]

Cillipuddi, on 01 January 2016 - 07:45 AM, said:

You're going to get a lot of loaded answers. The bitter jaded Vets will say "New Players have and will hate this game because I hate this game, and should leave immediately to screw over PGI." The other extreme will be "OMG the game population is growing so much, we'll be the top game in the world within the next month."

I tend to judge a games "popularity" by its Twitch following, which in the case of MWO has risen significantly since the Steam launch. The more people are watching it on Twitch the more advert the game gets, that in turn will and has lead to a rise in population growth.

As far as "retention" goes, I see a lot(not all) but a lot of the people I played with 3 years ago. There is a bigger population right now due solely to the Steam launch. Will these players stay or leave, probably 50/50. As much as I see people complain on the forums about this game, it's honestly growing more day by day.

I'm about as jaded as they come and still play, Steam numbers haven't gone through the roof, which was to be expected, its not numbers that count, its how many of those numbers cough up money, and support the game that matters

[CDLord HHGD]

Cathy, on 01 January 2016 - 08:04 AM, said:

I'm about as jaded as they come and still play, Steam numbers haven't gone through the roof, which was to be expected, its not numbers that count, its how many of those numbers cough up money, and support the game that matters

While I am a veteran white knight instead of a jaded veteran, I agree with this statement.

[Elizander]

cdlord, on 01 January 2016 - 08:17 AM, said:

While I am a veteran white knight instead of a jaded veteran, I agree with this statement.

The PGI Whaling fleets are out in full force. :3

[fat4eyes]

Interesting data here:

https://steamdb.info.../342200/graphs/

Players in the last 2 weeks are settling down after the Steam launch spike. When it stabilizes we'll have an idea how many people kept on playing MWO after the Steam release.

[zagibu]

fat4eyes, on 01 January 2016 - 09:54 AM, said:

Interesting data here:

https://steamdb.info.../342200/graphs/

Players in the last 2 weeks are settling down after the Steam launch spike. When it stabilizes we'll have an idea how many people kept on playing MWO after the Steam release.

Yep, the red area in the last graph is basically people that have played before, but not in the last two weeks.

[TLBFestus]

Dracol, on 01 January 2016 - 07:39 AM, said:

Steam makes public player numbers for their games. Mwo's steam stats don't include vetern players logging in on outside of steam, however it can still give an idea on new player retention.

Quick google search and we find http://steamcharts.c.../?q=Mechwarrior

30 day player average only has a very minor drop of 0.13%. We're either retaining majority of payers or replacing em as fast as we lose em.

An alternative answer is that a large enough percentage of existing players switched over to STEAM to "buffer" any drop in new players and give the appearance of retention.

Still, as others have said, it's not the number of new players, it's the number of new SPENDERS that counts. How many whales did the STEAM net capture?

I'd expect an initial bump in income as some new players in the holiday spirit bought a mechpack while initially trying the game out. So the income goes up for PGI during this season.

What really counts is how many stick around and continue to spend. It's hard to figure out how many new players the game got via STEAM though.

While the MM seems to be working faster is that due to a significant jump in player population or simply the changed mechanic? I get the feeling from looking at the STEAM info and sources that the population has doubled, but while that seems good, when you consider the small size of the population I don't know if "double" is all that successful.

[Mycrus]

Switch to steam?

As an avid steam user (got a crap ton of games last sale), why the hell will you want to do that?

[Sandpit]

Cathy, on 01 January 2016 - 08:04 AM, said:

I'm about as jaded as they come and still play, Steam numbers haven't gone through the roof, which was to be expected, its not numbers that count, its how many of those numbers cough up money, and support the game that matters

not really
The core crowd that's been here for 3 years now supports the game financially very well actually. Throw in the subsidies the Canada tosses into the mix and PGI makes a very comfortable profit. The revenue is steady, we need more bodies now. We need more "casual" players who toss a few bucks here and there at the game and help boost queue numbers.

[zagibu]

Mycrus, on 01 January 2016 - 11:22 AM, said:

Switch to steam?

As an avid steam user (got a crap ton of games last sale), why the hell will you want to do that?

Steam overlay is one reason. I know you can make it work manually, but it sometimes breaks after MWO patches and you have to reactivate it. Steam also does auto-updates in the background, has achievements you can use for epeen, etc. Also, you can't review the game on Steam or upload screenshots etc. if you don't "own" it on Steam.

I know, doesn't seem like much, but it's something, I guess.

[Mcgral18]

zagibu, on 01 January 2016 - 12:02 PM, said:

Steam overlay is one reason. I know you can make it work manually, but it sometimes breaks after MWO patches and you have to reactivate it. Steam also does auto-updates in the background, has achievements you can use for epeen, etc. Also, you can't review the game on Steam or upload screenshots etc. if you don't "own" it on Steam.

I know, doesn't seem like much, but it's something, I guess.

Steam Overlay is a downside so far.

If you Alt-Tab, you're gonna have a bad time.
Every time you press Shift, the overlay will open after each Alt Tab.

[fat4eyes]

Mycrus, on 01 January 2016 - 11:22 AM, said:

Switch to steam?

As an avid steam user (got a crap ton of games last sale), why the hell will you want to do that?

It's more reliable updates for me. I've had to re-download patches multiple times when it gets interrupted with MWO's old patcher. I'm having a much better experience with Steam updates.

[zagibu]

Mcgral18, on 01 January 2016 - 12:11 PM, said:

Steam Overlay is a downside so far.

If you Alt-Tab, you're gonna have a bad time.
Every time you press Shift, the overlay will open after each Alt Tab.

You can deactivate it. Personally, I don't need alt-tab anymore, because there is a browser in the steam overlay.

[DaZur]

Cathy, on 01 January 2016 - 08:04 AM, said:

I'm about as jaded as they come and still play, Steam numbers haven't gone through the roof, which was to be expected, its not numbers that count, its how many of those numbers cough up money, and support the game that matters

Yes and no... A non-paying player still provides content. I.e. Players to play with or against regardless of their financial commitment. That said... The longer a player hangs around the more likely they are to eventually open their wallet.

[N0MAD]

Only 35% of steam players have played enough to win 1 game, thats it...

[Moldur]

The way mech packs and stuff work, I find MWO to be a good holiday break game. You leave for 5 months, come back, look at all the new stuff, buy 30 days of premium time, grind a bunch of c-bills, sit on your pile of gold for another 5 months.

[sycocys]

zagibu, on 01 January 2016 - 12:14 PM, said:

You can deactivate it. Personally, I don't need alt-tab anymore, because there is a browser in the steam overlay.

How do you deactivate it, that is seriously the most annoying thing about steam.