It’s human nature to want to have the best of something. Whether it be the best job, car, toys, house, etc. And when you have the option of getting something better versus staying with something that’s just “ok”, you go for it, right? Well, that’s exactly how video games work too. Gamers will stay with a title until something better comes along. Case and point, H1Z1. Many forget that it was the first true Battle Royale game on the market (outside of mods), and it’s mainly because of its two big competitors…
Those, of course, being Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Which have dominated the markets since their arrivals (or in the case of Fornite, since it brought in its Battle Royale expansion), and though both have had their issues, they’re considered more complete games. Which has had a bad effect on H1Z1, as its player base has plummeted in the months since the “Battle Royale Boom” happened.
As documented by Githyp, H1Z1 hit its peak in July of 2017, which about when PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was becoming popular. Since then, the player base has dropped 91%. Going from around 150K players a day (and a #3 spot on Steam), to around 10k players a day at its best. That’s quite a drop.
So, what caused the drop? Well, that’s honestly very easy to say, Fortnite and PUBG are more complete titles, and have made great advancements since their launch. H1Z1? Not so much. The game has been live for years versus the other twos months, and they haven’t advanced as much as players have wanted them to. Because of this, it’s not hard to see why they went to Fortnite or PUBG.
The team behind the game have tried many things in order to get the title back on track player wise, even doing a free weekend on Steam. But, it’s just not working out. You have to wonder how much longer it can last this way.
