Even over 3 years after release, For Honor still has some loyal players – recently, the number of players even increased again. What is the reason for this?
This is what has happened with For Honor so far: Since its announcement in 2015, For Honor has had a turbulent history.
- The hype before and after the release on February 14, 2017, was huge. Even the beta registrations set records.
- Then For Honor revealed some glaring issues and drew much criticism. Numerous bugs and glitches occurred, players complained about steel prices, and there were many other weaknesses.
- The hype quickly faded, and For Honor was predicted to have a short lifespan. No one was interested in the content of the second season.
- On Steam, the player count reached an all-time low in October with an average of 1180 players active that day.
- Despite all the rumors, the year 2018 went significantly better for For Honor. Apparently, over a million players played monthly, announced the publisher on the game’s first birthday.
- In 2018, there were plenty of free updates with many heroes and other innovations. Dedicated servers were also introduced.
- Additionally, the “Marching Fire” update was released. Player numbers on Steam rose significantly again.
- There is a roadmap for 2019. Every month there is a new season with new fighters, events, and other content.
How did For Honor manage to stay afloat?
Although the stars did not align well for For Honor in 2017, Ubisoft continued to support the developers.
Many other publishers would likely have simply let the game “die.” The developers have made efforts in recent years to address the game’s weaknesses.
Furthermore, starting in 2018, there were regular new, motivating content like new fighters, events, and the “Marching Fire” expansion.
The numbers say: On Steam, the numbers of the last months remained stable. Rarely did the peak number of players online in a day drop below 8000 players.
The other platforms like Ubisoft’s Uplay service or the console versions are not even included here. Ubisoft does not provide any more precise numbers.
Nevertheless, the data shows that For Honor is managing to retain a solid player base.
Season 2 starts and attracts players
What does it look like now? Thousands of players are playing For Honor on Steam every day. Recently, the trend has been increasing again. In the last 30 days, the average number of players has risen again.
Although only minimally by about 5%, For Honor is still managing to attract players after over 3 years.
What’s in Season 2: The start of the new season is also responsible for this. It started on May 2 and ends in July and brings:
- another new fighter, the samurai Hitokiri and the female variant Sakura.
- a new map
- a new seasonal event
- further changes (balance optimizations, steel prices)
What comes next?
The roadmap for this year only includes the upcoming seasons so far.
- The third season begins in August and ends in October. You will get access to another character from the Vikings
- This yet unnamed season will introduce another hero for the Wu Lin. The season is scheduled to take place from November to possibly January 2020
Whether For Honor can continue to keep its players engaged remains to be seen. So far, no major add-on has been announced.
Do you actively play For Honor? What do you think about it?
