The Finals player count plummets by almost 80% as Palworld hype takes over

The hype around the FPS title The Finals has fallen somewhat as the mega-hit Palworld takes over the gaming consciousness.

The Finals was released on December 7, 2023 to rave reception from gamers. The FPS title blended a unique objective game mode with massive multi-player destruction and had the benefit of a 2023 Game Awards promo spot.

The Embark Studios title reached a player peak of 242,619 on December 10, according to SteamDB data. It also had peaks from its beta phase and broke into the top 10 most-played games on Steam in October.

However, with the rise of Palworld, and the changing of the whims of gamers and the hype cycle, The Finals player count has plummeted.

The Finals hype cycle winds down

According to recent numbers from Steam, The Finals had 51,314 active players at its peak in the last 24 hours as of January 25, 2024. That is about 20% of its total peak player count from just a month ago, so almost an 80% drop.

While the fall shouldn’t be too concerning for The Finals fans, this past week has been dominated by another experience taking over the hype cycle, Palworld. The open-world survival game has dominated player count numbers since its launch on January 19.

Palworld dwarfed many other titles on Steam as it reached an all-time peak player count of 2,018,904 on January 24, breaking records held by Counter-Strike and Dota 2.

The game’s Pokemon-like aesthetic, and discourse around its creation, have caught fire in the gaming community to bring many new players who may have passed on the Early-Access title initially.

The Finals player counter on Steam doesn’t account for console gamers, who are also a big part of the user base. A dip in users shouldn’t worry fans too much, as it doesn’t seem like anyone is abandoning the game for good anytime soon.