H1Z1 has taken a major hit to its player base since the launch of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fornite’s battle royale mode, losing roughly 91 percent of its total player base.
According to recent statistics from githyp.com, the game has seen a continued decline in its active player counts since the arrival of the current heavy hitters in the battle royale genre. Reaching its peak in July of 2017 at 86,404 players per hour, the title has seen a steady decline since with decreases in players per hour as high as 26,635 in a single month. The reasons for the drop off vary, though comments within the game’s Steam community forums site poor quality and unaddressed technical issues.
First released to Steam’s Early Access Jan. 15, 2015, H1Z1 is an MMO survival sandbox game where players attempt to survive within the world through scavenging, stealth and cooperation. By March of 2015, it had sold over 1 million copies, and later on in its life it would go on to temporarily hold the third highest rank in Steam’s most played games.
The game’s developers, Daybreak Game Company, have taken steps to alleviate the hit, selling the game for a discount as part of a humble bundle sale and offering a free weekend on Steam near the end of last year. However, the game’s player base has continued to decline, now resting at 7,583 players per hour.
For more on the player rates of games in the battle royale genre, check out our piece on how PUBG’s PC player base has declined despite increased sales.
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