Some players are now mockingly pointing to Back 4 Blood and claiming: The game must be a flop if its spiritual predecessor has more players on Steam.
In recent days, many critical articles about Back 4 Blood and Left 4 Dead 2 have been read on various sites. Basically, it always came down to one number: Left 4 Dead 2 still has more active players on Steam after 12 years than Back 4 Blood has after 4 weeks.
This often led to the conclusion that Back 4 Blood must be a huge flop, the critics “were justified in everything” and that the new zombie shooter is simply not a good game.
However, important points are often forgotten in this discussion, making much of the reporting seem quite one-sided. Therefore, I want to clarify a few points – to praise where it is due and to dismiss criticism where it does not make sense.
What is it really about? About the simple comparison of two numbers. Those who compare the current player counts of Back 4 Blood and Left 4 Dead 2 on Steam get the following values (as of: 04.11.2021, 14:45):
- Left 4 Dead 2 has 24,341 concurrent players, peaking at 28,313 in the last 24 hours
- Back 4 Blood has 19,004 concurrent players, peaking at 21,604 in the last 24 hours
The first assumption here is: Back 4 Blood is less successful than Left 4 Dead 2, an ancient game. Therefore, Back 4 Blood must be a flop. But is that true?
Left 4 Dead 2 – The genre leader without competition
What cannot be dismissed is the fact that Left 4 Dead 2 still comes across well after 12 years. The game has a loyal player base and has experienced a certain revival. After all, there were some who looked forward to Back 4 Blood but disagreed with the PvP mode. Others were reminded of the old classic Left 4 Dead 2 through Back 4 Blood and ventured back into the game.
The player counts of Left 4 Dead 2 have remained more or less constant in recent years.
However, there are several factors here that should not be overlooked when comparing both games.
Left 4 Dead 2 is available at a bargain price: Back 4 Blood is a full-price title with a purchase price of €60 – at least on Steam. Left 4 Dead 2, on the other hand, is available at a bargain price. In sales, the shooter is often reduced to €2 and there were times when it was even made completely free. The barrier to entry is so low here that it is not surprising that the game is highly popular. The popularity of the genre – also due to the lack of solid competition – makes Left 4 Dead 2 a perennial favorite.
The launch of Left 4 Dead 2 was troubled: Even though many like to forget this today: Left 4 Dead 2 initially lost many players after its launch. From the initial 12,000 simultaneous players, only about 6,000 remained 2 months later. It took several months, many patches, and improvements before the zombie shooter established itself and became more popular. The patch and DLC policy of the game is a good example of why a game can continue to function for years and now decades.
Back 4 Blood is available on many platforms: What is apparently often forgotten in the discussion on many sites: Back 4 Blood is not exclusively available on Steam. So when Steam numbers of Back 4 Blood and Left 4 Dead 2 are compared, it is simply not fair. After all, Back 4 Blood is also available in the Epic Games Store, the Microsoft Store, and also in the Xbox Game Pass – all options to play the game on PC as well.
Sure – Steam is the largest platform and will likely comprise the lion’s share. But how many players Back 4 Blood has on all the other platforms, we simply do not know.
Whether Back 4 Blood is truly a flop cannot be answered outright. Only developers and publishers can provide information, when sales or active player numbers are published.
Moreover, Back 4 Blood seems to be “here to stay”. The game is set to be supplied with many DLCs and it is already clear that the developers are working on numerous improvements to ensure that Back 4 Blood will be successful over months and years. Whether this strategy will pay off can only be assessed in about half a year.
Yet even if Back 4 Blood is set aside, one must give Left 4 Dead 2 credit for being one of the very few games that have endured for decades. Left 4 Dead 2 was good back then and is still good today – and that is appreciated by players.
How do you perceive this matter? Is Back 4 Blood clearly a flop if Left 4 Dead 2 has more players on Steam? Or should all of this be considered in context?
