Darkest Dungeon 2 Failed to Repeat Predecessor's Success

RPG Darkest Dungeon 2, which came out of Early Access last month, was a commericial success. Sales exceeded 500 thousand copies, of which more than 230,000 were purchased in the week after the full version was released. It might seem that everything is going well, but there are many indications that the game, although popular in its own right, has failed to match the first part.

1. This can be seen most strongly on Steam. Yesterday's activity record of Darkest Dungeon 2 amounted to just 1718 concurrent players. That's a pretty average result, considering that the game relied on roguelike elements and was specifically designed to be played endlessly.
2. By comparison, yesterday's activity record of the first Darkest Dungeon was almost twice as high at 3151 players.
3. Interestingly, the sequel's overall activity record is higher - it is 23,000 players and was set two months ago (the first part's record is 19,000). This means that immediately after the release, crowds of players rushed to the sequel, but then quickly left it.
4. Of course, it should be remembered that in early access Darkest Dungeon 2 was an Epic Games Store exclusive. At least half of the game's purchasers, therefore, have it on EGS and thus are not counted in the activity results from Steam. However, even taking this into account, the fact that a month after the release of version 1.0, the sequel has almost twice as little players on Steam as the seven-year-old original should worry the developers.
5. Also, the reception of the sequel is worse. The first part has 91% positive reviews on Steam, while the sequel has only 75%,

Darkest Dungeon enjoyed a very long post-release support, receiving a slew of updates and three major paid DLCs over the years. The big question is whether we can count on the same for the sequel. Despite worse activity results, the second part sold well, so it's not impossible that the developers intend to support it for a long time.

Recall that Darkest Dungeon II debuted in early access in October 2021, and on May 8, this year version 1.0 was released. The game is currently available only on PC.

1. Darkest Dungeon II on Steam
2. Darkest Dungeon 2 - game guide
3. Darkest Dungeon II - official website

Darkest Dungeon

January 19, 2016

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