Quote Originally Posted by Absimiliard View Post
It does fascinate me that people for some reason believe there will be a significant difference in trend across platforms. The people playing the game on Steam are no different from those using the direct-from-SE client or on a PS5. If one medium documents a significant rise or fall in engagement, you can safely bet it will be the same across the others. Departures caused by platform-specific technical issues notwithstanding, of course.
I agree with you. The problem is that invalidating this data set is high on the target list for people with dissenting arguments because it is an inconvenience when it shows data that doesn't align with their views. It's almost like a political smear campaign. I think the trends there would be accurate enough to draw conclusions.

As far as I know steam appeals to both casual and hardcore players alike so there is no reason to believe there is any meaningful "gaming culture" sway on it either.