Plus: Which Recent PC Games Have the Most 'Staying Power'?

This analysis examines the retention and market performance of PC and console games, with a primary focus on Steam launches from September 2023. By tracking hourly concurrent user (CCU) data, the study identifies which titles maintain "staying power" by comparing current player counts to their all-time highs. The scope covers major global PC and console platforms, including Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Epic Games Store, and Meta Quest, during the period of late 2023.

Findings indicate that most premium "play once" games experience rapid decay, often falling below 100 CCU shortly after launch. However, specific categories demonstrate superior retention. Games-as-a-Service (GaaS) sports titles like EA Sports FC and NBA 2K maintain high ratios (0.64x to 0.66x) due to consistent recurring player bases. Small-to-medium titles driven by word-of-mouth, such as Chants of Sennaar (0.40x), also show strong long-tail performance. Among major releases, Lies of P stands out for retaining 20% of its peak CCU six weeks post-launch, a high mark for a single-player title. Conversely, Payday 3 is noted for poor retention, holding only 4% of its peak CCU and significantly underperforming compared to its predecessor.

The analysis also highlights a high-volume release week in early November 2023. For The King II emerged as the strongest debut with over 24,800 peak CCU, followed by successful niche launches like Star Ocean: The Second Story R and Magicraft. On consoles, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 continues to dominate PlayStation charts, while Suika Game and Dave the Diver lead third-party downloads on the Nintendo Switch eShop. The methodology relies on proprietary GameDiscoverCo tracking tools, Steam API data, and manual compilation of public storefront rankings to assess commercial momentum and player engagement.