In the MMO trends in September, Guild Wars 2 and Diablo 3 are big winners. WoW and Final Fantasy XIV, on the other hand, lose ground.
As always, upfront: These are not “official, absolute” numbers. The publishers simply do not release those. The top 20 from “Ratpr” reflect the hours users of the PC program “Ratpr” spent in individual games. We try to read a trend from that.
Overall, there were 10% fewer hours spent on games in September than in August. Additionally, a relatively strong single-player game came in with “Metal Gear Solid V”.
WoW loses, Diablo 3 wins big
The top games are noticing this immediately. WoW loses 20% of its playtime compared to August.
September was the big month for Diablo 3 – Season 4 in full swing, the new patch came. Here, playtime doubled and even more. Diablo 3 can increase by 120%. That’s enough for 5th place.
For Heroes of the Storm and Hearthstone , the trend is pointing downwards. With 7 and 12, they are still strong in the race and underline Blizzard’s exceptional position in the PC market.
The action MOBA Smite, which has lost so much ground recently, has been able to gain significantly in September. Also, ARK, the surprise hit of summer, can hold its ground in the top 10, albeit narrowly.
Guild Wars 2 rises, Final Fantasy XIV falls
For Final Fantasy XIV , after an upward trend due to the expansion “Heavensward”, it is somewhat declining. It loses 3 places.
A MMORPG that benefits from this is Guild Wars 2. Ahead of the expansion “Heart of Thorns”, interest seems to finally be rising again. In summer, it dropped out of the top 20 on Raptr. Now Guild Wars 2 makes a spectacular comeback, rising 8 places from 21 to 13.
Responsible for this are likely discounts, new offers in the Gem Store, and the possibility to catch up on Living World Season 2 affordably. And the switch to a free-to-play model may have played a role as well. The next values in October are expected to be even better: Heart of Thorns is finally here.
Otherwise, there is relatively little movement in the top-20 games on Ratpr. Warframe has slipped down. Maybe the free-to-play release of WildStar will be noticeable in October.
