An alternative to Diablo 4 increases its player count on Steam with a large update by 4,615 %

The action role-playing game Last Epoch has long been considered an alternative to hack and slays like Diablo 4 or Path of Exile. However, as recently as January 2023, the title was hovering around 859 players on Steam at its peak. With the new update, it has now reached 40,504. An increase of more than 4600 percent.

How have the player numbers for Last Epoch evolved?

• The player numbers for Last Epoch have been recorded on Steam since May 2019 (via steamcharts). The game has had occasional small spikes: In December 2020, it peaked at 2,715 players, and in September 2021, it reached 5,890 players.
• However, in recent months the game had become quite quiet again: In January 2023, there were an average of 430.2 players and a peak of 859.
• In the last 30 days, there have now been an average of 5,150.3 players online and a peak of 40,504. This represents an increase of more than 4,600%. The interesting point: the enormous surge in player numbers began only on March 9. The days prior still dilute the “Last 30 Days” at this moment.

Multiplayer update catapults the game forward

Where does the leap come from? On March 9, “The Convergence Update” – Beta 0.9 was released.

The most important feature in this mega-update is the introduction of a multiplayer mode, where you can now face monster hordes with up to three friends.

The update also expanded the game with new armor, animations, enemies, and music tracks. The patch notes for the update are several pages long (via forum.lastepoch).

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How are the reviews on Steam? The reviews have dropped slightly in recent days:

• The overall reviews stand at 85% “very positive”.
• The current reviews over the last 30 days are at 78% now “mostly positive”.

A player with over 300 hours in Last Epoch explains that the slight downgrade is due to review bombing, as a specific decision by the developers regarding “trading within the game” was controversially received. Overall, however, Last Epoch is definitely a game that satisfies the desire for “action RPG”, that is, the craving for loot and leveling.

Last Epoch is still in early access and costs just under 34 €. Many players will use it as a bridge until Diablo 4 is released. Some compare Last Epoch to “Path of Exile”; unlike this epic, you don’t need spreadsheets for the Steam title and don’t have to constantly search Google for guides, explains a Steam review:

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