The MMO shooter The Division receives little attention for its DLCs in year 1. With Destiny it was different.
Destiny and The Division are separated by quite a bit: the settings are different, the MMO mechanics vary, the gameplay is different. But both titles have one thing in common: They rely on free updates and paid DLCs to maintain interest in the title.
Destiny received two DLCs in year 1 and a major expansion a year after launch. For The Division, Massive had drawn up a very similar plan: first, two free updates were to be released, followed by three “paid” DLCs to carry The Division well through 2016 and its first year.
However, there is a huge difference: the DLCs for Destiny reignited fan interest. With The Division, this does not work, at least not to the same extent. This is evident in “Google Trends”. The trends show via graphs how often a title was googled in Germany.
Destiny: Is anyone still playing it? Google Trends in Germany say: Yes
Like all titles, Destiny never reaches the attention it had at release in September 2014 – that is a title at its absolute peak, fans are looking forward to the day for months, there is nothing else to do, every morsel of information is absorbed.
At launch, Destiny had “100%” in relation to total attention – that is the zenith: the point to which everything else is compared. This is the exception; this Google interest always declines further until it eventually settles at a “normal level.” Those still interested in the game belong to the core audience.
This is completely normal and happens with every title. It cannot be changed. The allure of the new fades, players turn to other titles. The trick is: to keep reigniting interest.
This is what Destiny succeeds in doing. In the two years since release, it has managed to regain some interest four times, with the three DLCs and the expansion. The DLCs in the first year, “The Dark Below” and “House of Wolves,” bring improvements in trends. It goes up by 10 points (The Dark Below) and remains at the elevated level for two to three weeks.
Destiny: Players return with DLCs
Each time a DLC is on the way, the numbers rise again. Interest in the title grows: Destiny reaches its peak again in September 2015, when “The Taken King” is released. It jumps from only 18 to 40 points – and stays at a similar level for 6 weeks.
In 2016, when not much happened with the title, interest remained consistently low throughout the year, until in September with Rise of Iron, it regained some momentum. After a long dry spell, it went up by 17 points.
You can trace Destiny’s curve exactly when things happened. When an update came, how significant it was, and how long it kept the players engaged. Free updates, like Sparrow Racing in December 2015 or the Prison of Elders in April, do have an impact on interest, but only a minor one.
This worked well
This “Google interest” cannot be directly translated into player numbers but serves as a good parameter for how “hot” the title currently is. How many people are interested in the game, how many are starting new and informing themselves.
For Destiny, this was at least in year 1 “very good”, even if the graph may not look like it because the release hype was so tremendous . But everything worked out. The game continued to be discussed and remained relevant.
Interest in The Division has drastically declined
Now let’s take a look at The Division.
Also, “The Division” had the release hype, reaching 100 points. However, over the year, there are no highlights, hardly any fluctuations. Interest only increases by 3 or 5 points when DLCs or content updates are released. And The Division does not stay at the “elevated level” for long, but drops back down almost immediately.
Now one might say about “The Division” that it has overall taken a worse course than Destiny. It is remarkable how little the DLCs and updates contribute to regaining player interest in the title. This can clearly be identified as a flaw in the strategy.
Also, in retrospect, not everything was perfect with Destiny. The shooter was highly controversial at the start, received only mediocre ratings, and was mocked for things like the Loot Cave.
Of course, interest in The Division is also affected by the fact that only players on Xbox One and PC receive the DLCs on time. Players on PS4 have to wait a month. This seems to significantly reduce the DLC hype.
However, it is pointless to discuss whether it would have been different if PS4 players could have started with the DLC. Ultimately, we will never know the answer.
Recently, there has been a slight uptrend
There is a positive trend for “The Division” fans: In recent weeks, now in late autumn, interest in the game seems to be recovering somewhat. The Division has not been as interesting as it is now since the summer. Even if the claim by Ubisoft that interest has returned to launch levels … had to be retracted.
If you look at the graphs above, you will know why.
Interestingly, when comparing the interest of Google users in Germany for Destiny and The Division, Destiny has been slightly stronger since July. However, at the moment, both titles are almost neck and neck.
We know you would like to have official numbers. Why they do not exist and why we have to rely on Google Trends, you can read here:
