The Great FFXIV Exodus of 2024

[Exmo]

https://steamcharts.com/app/39210#All

Steam obviously isn't the entire playerbase but it's more than a large enough sample size to gauge player behaviour. It doesn't look good.

We had a patch 1 week ago and we're at 27k daily peak. Player numbers haven't been lower than they are right now since 2020.

The numbers you share put this month about on par with the same time last year.

About 42% of players returned for patch 7.1, versus 47% for SHB's first patch and 49% for EW's. It's lower than it has been in the past, but it's a far cry from the 50% 30% you claim.

There have been several times in the past 5 years where the number of players was lower, eg December 2023. That said, there's not a significant difference between the peaks and troughs between major releases. The numbers you provide show player numbers are following a similar pattern as always.

[Arlythe]

See you next Xpansion. o/

[Gember]

Here on Aether it doesn't feel like less people are playing, my friends still can't visit me here because the datacenter is too crowded. I truly wish more people that say they want to quit or say they are quitting would actually quit. Not out of any sort of pettiness or anger, it's just that I believe if you aren't having fun you shouldn't be paying for the game. Being unhappy with the game while giving Square money every month doesn't send the greatest message.

Its very likely that there are people on here who are dealing with addictive behaviors. The pattern "I am miserable doing this, but I can't stop engaging with it." is a sign of it. I don't speak for everyone of course, but I wouldn't say its not present in this forums.

[Schan]

https://steamcharts.com/app/39210#All

Player numbers are the lowest they've been in the last 5 years.

7.0 to 7.1 saw the lowest % of the total playerbase return for a patch of all time. Every other expansion has seen 50% of the playerbase return for its x.1 patch. Only 30% came back for 7.1.

7.1 released 1 week ago and daily peaks are back down to the same numbers that they were before the patch.

You're welcome to cope but the numbers don't lie. People are leaving en masse.

I don't know where you got this idea that my experience is the TRUTH and therefore you have to post your own incomplete information just to disagree.

Things are never as straightforward as you try make it out to be.

Forums people are a fraction of the community. Not everyone that plays FFXIV play it on steam so their numbers are also incomplete, and what you experience daily is also a fragment of the community (every player does not play at the same time)

There is a probability that the people quitting are just the steam people, the same way there is a probability that some of these groups overlap. Only SE knows the full numbers.

The only thing I can say is that I haven't noticed any change in the community. Loads of RP venues, queue times are still fast, Limsa is still full of (AFK) people.

Then there's the fact that FFXIV is kind of seasonal. Some players will come, play the MSQ and then leave. Rinse and repeat. So you throwing Steam numbers at me means nothing because we lack context. Did you just pick a timeframe where it so happens people are unsubbing because they have played the MSQ? How would this chart look if you snipped a timeframe where an expansion dropped? or a patch? Do you realize different patches bring different level of player spikes?

So to finalize, yes the numbers do lie because numbers without context are meaningless. Are you not aware of the concept of misrepresenting statistics?

We also lack the numbers to know what is a "normal" player average. We all know Shadowbringers massively inflated player count, so are we doing the capitalist shtick of ALWAYS GOING UUUUP?

[Raraka]

You can absolutely dismiss the forums as negative for the exact same reason you gave.

Right back at you. Now you are part of the Forums bias /s

[Derio]

I know several people who dont unsub just because its a pain to start back your sub. Im having fun with 7.1 patch

[Raraka]

The OF has an extreme negative bias. You should accept that instead of trying to dress that fact in a pretty bow and with a message of "improvement."

I fully agree with you, but sweeping the entire Forum as a biased sample is a massive stretch. People do voice what they enjoy here all the time too, they just dont get as much engagement because usually its agreed upon

The new raid series was fantastic, and the threads that talk about it are very positive. The new reward structure is nice, not much to discuss other than say good job

Again, my issue with the original comment was sweeping the forums as a whole as an invalid view of how the game health fares. It definetly is an indicator, maybe its not to the extent that OP presents it, but a precedent/early symptoms of how there is negative feelings brewing

[BigCheez]

The numbers you share put this month about on par with the same time last year.

About 42% of players returned for patch 7.1, versus 47% for SHB's first patch and 49% for EW's. It's lower than it has been in the past, but it's a far cry from the 50% 30% you claim.

There have been several times in the past 5 years where the number of players was lower, eg December 2023. That said, there's not a significant difference between the peaks and troughs between major releases. The numbers you provide show player numbers are following a similar pattern as always.

I just eyeballed the numbers and didn't actually calculate exact percentages, so they may have been slightly off, but aren't anywhere near as close as you claim.

5.0 peaked at 41k.
5.1 peaked at 20k.
48% of the playerbase returned for the x.1 patch.

6.0 peaked at 95k.
6.1 peaked at 55k.
58% of the playerbase returned for the x.1 patch.

7.0 peaked at 91k.
7.1 peaked at 35k.
38% of the playerbase returned for the x.1 patch.

Dawntrail peaking lower than Endwalker is also the first time the playerbase has gotten smaller between expansions.

7.1's 35k down to 27k in less than a week is also the sharpest decline immediately after a patch release we've ever seen.

[IOwn92FCHouses]

I fully agree with you, but sweeping the entire Forum as a biased sample is a massive stretch. People do voice what they enjoy here all the time too, they just dont get as much engagement because usually its agreed upon

The new raid series was fantastic, and the threads that talk about it are very positive. The new reward structure is nice, not much to discuss other than say good job

Again, my issue with the original comment was sweeping the forums as a whole as an invalid view of how the game health fares. It definetly is an indicator, maybe its not to the extent that OP presents it, but a precedent/early symptoms of how there is negative feelings brewing

That's fair enough. These days, to our detriment, negativity receives a ton more engagement than positivity, which can certainly enforce a perception. It doesn't help that extremely jaded individuals will always post negativity regardless of the topic. I believe we can both agree on this.

[BigCheez]

Then there's the fact that FFXIV is kind of seasonal. Some players will come, play the MSQ and then leave. Rinse and repeat. So you throwing Steam numbers at me means nothing because we lack context. Did you just pick a timeframe where it so happens people are unsubbing because they have played the MSQ? How would this chart look if you snipped a timeframe where an expansion dropped? or a patch? Do you realize different patches bring different level of player spikes?

That's why I'm specifically comparing the difference between x.0 and x.1 patches. Not even an Olympic gold in mental gymnastics makes the current state of the playerbase look healthy.