Game owners over the years

[Radford999]

I’ve noticed that this year on this site Fifa 20 only has 4800 game owners. That seems incredibly low compared to previous years. Fifa 17 had 301,000 game owners. Fifa 18 had 224,000 and Fifa 19 had 88,000. Why has it gone down drastically each year? I know the game has only been out like 3 weeks and it will have alot more game owners by the time Fifa 21 releases. But it still won’t be higher than Fifa 19. Why is this? I actually think this Fifa is damn good!

[iXanon]

Perhaps people are finally realising that yearly sports games aren't really needed.. The tweaks tend to be few and far between and in addition to lineup and kit changes, they could easily be managed through an update DLC.

[djb5f]

Trophy hunters tend to avoid sports games like the plague because they are long and challenging.  

 

As for dropping #of players from the overall PlayStation community, not sure if that is the case or not, have not seen any sales figures.

[thefourfoldroot]

6 minutes ago, djb5f said:

Trophy hunters tend to avoid sports games like the plague because they are long and challenging.  

 

As for dropping #of players from the overall PlayStation community, not sure if that is the case or not, have not seen any sales figures.

They are hardly challenging. I got the plat on FIFA 14 easily then barely played a FIFA game since because they only made minor changes, one of which was very negative, plus I became more aware of how EA prey on kids with poor impulse control to make their money through UT. Difficulty us not even on the list for why people may have started to avoid FIFA games.

[Conor]

Haven't bought a FIFA since the PS2

[Zenpai]

I'm actually quite surprised that people kept buying what is essentially the same game every year for this long.

[Solid-Fisch]

That number will increase soon. There's too many fans out there. 

[Cleggworth]

It's because the website doesn't track as many people as it used to. Auto updating of profiles was off for a long time for anyone who wasn't a premium member. Actually I think it started around this time last year which is maybe why last year is when the numbers really started to drop. I believe it's back now but not what it once was. If a big title just released it could hit 30-40k recent players on the front page. These days it's lucky if it hits 10k

[djb5f]

1 hour ago, thefourfoldroot said:

They are hardly challenging. I got the plat on FIFA 14 easily then barely played a FIFA game since because they only made minor changes, one of which was very negative, plus I became more aware of how EA prey on kids with poor impulse control to make their money through UT. Difficulty us not even on the list for why people may have started to avoid FIFA games.

 

I was referring to sports games like NBA 2K, NHL, as well as FIFA and you would be surprised how many struggle to even get to Division 4 for a trophy.  Viewed as a deal breaker.  NHL and NBA you would often have to win Div 1 (sometimes in a perfect season) and that is playing the elite of the elite.  You have to be highly skilled for those.

 

There are so many threads about people avoiding games because competitive multiplayer is too difficult for them.  They are popping up now for The Last of Us Remastered and that was as easy as it gets.

 

Check the FIFA trophy thoughts thread here if you don’t think the challenge of making Division 4 is holding people back.

9 minutes ago, Cleggworth said:

It's because the website doesn't track as many people as it used to. Auto updating of profiles was off for a long time for anyone who wasn't a premium member. Actually I think it started around this time last year which is maybe why last year is when the numbers really started to drop. I believe it's back now but not what it once was. If a big title just released it could hit 30-40k recent players on the front page. These days it's lucky if it hits 10k

 

I think this is the correct reason.  More of a website issue than anything.

[Radford999]

1 hour ago, thefourfoldroot said:

They are hardly challenging. I got the plat on FIFA 14 easily then barely played a FIFA game since because they only made minor changes, one of which was very negative, plus I became more aware of how EA prey on kids with poor impulse control to make their money through UT. Difficulty us not even on the list for why people may have started to avoid FIFA games.

They are hardly challenging yet you have only got the platinum on Fifa 14? How do you know there are not challenging then???

[djb5f]

2 hours ago, iXanon said:

Perhaps people are finally realising that yearly sports games aren't really needed.. The tweaks tend to be few and far between and in addition to lineup and kit changes, they could easily be managed through an update DLC.

 

1 hour ago, jrdemr said:

I'm actually quite surprised that people kept buying what is essentially the same game every year for this long.

 

 

This certainly has elements of truth but you could really say the same about the releases of so many non-sports games too, thinking Ubisoft Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, etc.  Largely rinse and repeat with a new skin.

[SnowxSakura]

Maybe because it's literally fifa 17?

This is what you see when you eject the disc while fut is open

[FawltyPowers]

1 minute ago, SnowxSakura said:

Maybe because it's literally fifa 17?

 

This is what you see when you eject the disc while fut is open

 

You see that while playing Fifa 20! Oh my, talk about this franchise being EAsy money

[Sigma999]

Don't really care mysef for sports games since it's all basically the same stuff year after year for full price on release , which imo is a total steall and bullshit , i know the sports barely changes itself actually in reality so not much to improve and add over the time but it's clearly only a need to come out with DLcs or expansions packs to solve the issues and actualize the squads , kits and such but snce it's a golden eggs business for EA, 2K and such let them just keep releasing and wasting plastic (in case of huge physical amounts of copies printed each year) for the next year when the new version cames out , the previous be worth damn nothing basically.

 

Myself haven't got a sports games since PES 2011 on PS3 and a FIFA game since 2004 on PC , on console it was FIFA 99 . Never gonna waste any more money on those kind of games tbh. 

[Sigma999]

5 minutes ago, SnowxSakura said:

Maybe because it's literally fifa 17?

This is what you see when you eject the disc while fut is open

EA getting busted and they couldn't care less since the "normies" and casuals gamers will feed me every year like it's buffet open season ?

[Zenpai]

1 hour ago, djb5f said:

This certainly has elements of truth but you could really say the same about the releases of so many non-sports games too, thinking Ubisoft Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, etc.  Largely rinse and repeat with a new skin.

 

Say what you will about other serialized games and their gameplay repetition (I certainly also grew tired of it after a while), but the amount of effort put into each game from other series is vastly superior to what you see in FIFA, which is pretty much the same game every single year, bothering only to update the teams' rosters and very little else. I mean, FIFA 2020 for the Switch is, quite literally, the exact same game as FIFA 2019, just with an updated roster (which I argue is what they should have been doing to FIFA for the last few years, just update the game through DLC, but that's besides the point). The only significant change made to the series in recent memory was adding female players in FIFA 16.

At least, for example, Assassin's Creed has to recreate every model, location and story from scratch for every single game. They even recently stopped releasing a game every year to focus on quality and to not flood the market with releases. Heck, they even changed gameplay styles quite significantly with Origins, even providing Discovery Mode as a free DLC for use in schools and museums.

 

I'm sorry, but I don't think that comparison was very apt.

[AJ_-_808]

26 minutes ago, jrdemr said:

 

At least, for example, Assassin's Creed has to recreate every model, location and story from scratch for every single game. They even recently stopped releasing a game every year to focus on quality and to not flood the market with releases. Heck, they even changed gameplay styles quite significantly with Origins, even providing Discovery Mode as a free DLC for use in schools and museums.

 

I'm sorry, but I don't think that comparison was very apt.

Agreed. While each AC has the same basic premise, there's usually something new or tweaked from one game to the next.  Additionally, each game has it's own scenario and setting, and adds some sort of progress to the framing story (started with desmond). 

 

They at least experimented with different things from settlement building, horseback & ship combat to co-op, sidescrolling, and rpg elements.  What has fifa done besides roster update and milk the cashcow?

[AvengedEvil]

2 hours ago, Cleggworth said:

It's because the website doesn't track as many people as it used to. Auto updating of profiles was off for a long time for anyone who wasn't a premium member. Actually I think it started around this time last year which is maybe why last year is when the numbers really started to drop. I believe it's back now but not what it once was. If a big title just released it could hit 30-40k recent players on the front page. These days it's lucky if it hits 10k

^

This is the reason. I already gave up hopes that non-premium users will be correctly tracked ever again. Would be nice though, because it would have a high impact on trophy rarity.

[thefourfoldroot]

4 hours ago, Radford999 said:

They are hardly challenging yet you have only got the platinum on Fifa 14? How do you know there are not challenging then???

Because the trophy lists are pretty much identical and the games are not getting any more complex (I have played newer ones with friends, just not had any interest in playing them seriously or giving EA money for the above mentioned reasons). 

1 hour ago, AJ_-_808 said:

Agreed. While each AC has the same basic premise, there's usually something new or tweaked from one game to the next.  Additionally, each game has it's own scenario and setting, and adds some sort of progress to the framing story (started with desmond). 

 

They at least experimented with different things from settlement building, horseback & ship combat to co-op, sidescrolling, and rpg elements.  What has fifa done besides roster update and milk the cashcow?

Fair enough, I was referring to FIFA exclusively as that's what the thread was about, but I see now you were talking more generally

[sephiroth4424]

6 hours ago, djb5f said:

Trophy hunters tend to avoid sports games like the plague because they are long and challenging.  

 

I don't believe that's true. The core of people playing sports games (and fighting games) are casual gamers that don't care about trophies. Therefore they don't bother updating their profile in sites that track trophies.

[Fr_0zt]

7 hours ago, Radford999 said:

Why has it gone down drastically each year? 

 

Is this a joke!? 

 

Maybe because it went from been a 50/50% to 49/51% (game/ casino) and that pissed the fools off.... It was finally to damn much!! ?

[Radford999]

1 hour ago, Fr_0zt said:

 

Is this a joke!? 

 

Maybe because it went from been a 50/50% to 49/51% (game/ casino) and that pissed the fools off.... It was finally to damn much!!

No it’s not a joke. It’s a question.

 

2 hours ago, thefourfoldroot said:

Because the trophy lists are pretty much identical and the games are not getting any more complex (I have played newer ones with friends, just not had any interest in playing them seriously or giving EA money for the above mentioned reasons). 

Fair enough, I was referring to FIFA exclusively as that's what the thread was about, but I see now you were talking more generally

You can’t say something isn’t challenging when you’ve not even played it haha. Well it sounds like you haven’t played a Fifa properly since Fifa 14. Come back on here when you have platinumed all of them and say it wasn’t challenging. If you are an average Fifa player, some of the trophies are really hard.

[DaikichiKawachi]

I have bought FIFA most years since 96. FUT has really killed a lot of my love for the series though.

Edited October 7, 2019 by DaikichiKawachi

[rdhight]

I've seen lots of other games that have oddly low owner numbers, too. The PS4 population is supposedly really big, so I think this is a picture of something else.

 

Part of it is that trophy hunters just don't like sports games. But I think the bigger factor is that people just have more choices now in almost every way. Ten years ago, I feel like there was less selection on console and people funneled obediently into the same few CODs, GTAs, Halos, etc. and played them for years, like Disneyland visitors lining up outside the same few big rides. Now, as you point out, even if you like FIFA (or whatever game/genre), I think people are less likely to roll over into the current release every year. There are rereleases, niche games, retro games, PC ports — there are just more slices to the pie.

[Helyx]

I can go outside and play soccer, but I can't find a BFG 9000.