DCS Player Count (Not Steam)

[SubZ3r0]

Not sure if this is the best place to ask, but I am wondering if ED could provide some stats about player count over a period of time. Steam is the most inaccurate way of measuring this, but there is tracking websites that can show us peak usage stats. Me as well as many others would like to see this data more easily available to help the greater community as a whole see how many people play. 

[dmatsch]

I sure would like to see this data.  I think the current state of DCS is killing its long-term player stats.  I've heard so many stories of people not buying new modules until core is fixed.  In 10 years, I've never seen the forums get this slow with new missions, scripts, mods, tips, etc.  

 

--DCS evangelists inbound, bearing 090.  Range, 2 posts.

[rob10]

You might like it, but I'll guarantee that ED considers that proprietary business information that they're never going to share publicly.

[dmatsch]

52 minutes ago, rob10 said:

You might like it, but I'll guarantee that ED considers that proprietary business information that they're never going to share publicly.

I would agree.  I don't really care about the actual proprietary numbers.

The point, I believe, in the OP is to bring to attention any information as to how many long-term clients have dropped off for various reasons (core code).  Not to mention the non-paid contributors that have jumped ship because of the militant defense of same (core code).

[SubZ3r0]

3 hours ago, rob10 said:

You might like it, but I'll guarantee that ED considers that proprietary business information that they're never going to share publicly.

Pretty much what @dmatsch said. That's ok if its proprietary information, but not all companies consider it sensitive data. Getting information that is in this sample image would be amazing for us to see on DCS. Even if we could use an SDK/API and go third party with it, that would also be neat if possible. 

Edited October 28 by SubZ3r0

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

I'm pretty sure ED has said several times in the past that they'll never share such data.

[SubZ3r0]

16 hours ago, Raven (Elysian Angel) said:

I'm pretty sure ED has said several times in the past that they'll never share such data.

bummer. 

[primus_TR]

In your Profile page some info is available. I'm not 100% sure if this is the online player count. It just says 'active.' Not very descriptive. And of course, this is only a snapshot for a given point in time. Not sure if over time stats are available elsewhere. 

Edited October 29 by primus_TR

[QuiGon]

1 hour ago, primus_TR said:

In your Profile page some info is available. I'm not 100% sure if this is the online player count. It just says 'active.' Not very descriptive. And of course, this is only a snapshot for a given point in time. Not sure if over time stats are available elsewhere. 

Those are just the players that are currently playing on the multiplayer server and that also includes the servers themselves. The actual number of active players at that point in time is just 328 players (1961-1633=328), although some of the servers could also be directly hosted by players from within the DCS multiplayer menu, so the true number of active players at that point in time is probably a little higher, although barely (maybe 340 players or so).

As you can see, this is just a VERY small portion of even just the active DCS players on steam as most DCS players don't play multiplayer and if you just took that screenshot when you posted it, then that was also outside of the MP prime time, which is not on a Wednesday morning (western hemisphere).

Edited October 29 by QuiGon

[primus_TR]

You're probably right. That must be non-primetime online player numbers, since it is given just under total number of servers. I vaguely remember reading a statement somewhere that online players represented less than 10 percent of total DCS player base. I think I could speculate that an average of ~10K total active players would be within the ballpark. So, DCS is going strong and hopefully will remain so. 

 

Edit: By the way, this screenshot is from my DCS ED profile page; I own the standalone version. The figure should include both Steam and standalone players tho. 

Edited October 29 by primus_TR

[BIGNEWY]

22 hours ago, SubZ3r0 said:

Not sure if this is the best place to ask, but I am wondering if ED could provide some stats about player count over a period of time. Steam is the most inaccurate way of measuring this, but there is tracking websites that can show us peak usage stats. Me as well as many others would like to see this data more easily available to help the greater community as a whole see how many people play. 

Hi, we do not share statistics sorry. I can say DCS continues to grow which is encouraging to see with the newer generation taking an interest. 

Multiplayer statistics are not a measure for DCS use, as mentioned in previous posts on the subject single player remains the biggest section of the community. 

thank you 

22 hours ago, dmatsch said:

I sure would like to see this data.  I think the current state of DCS is killing its long-term player stats.  I've heard so many stories of people not buying new modules until core is fixed.  In 10 years, I've never seen the forums get this slow with new missions, scripts, mods, tips, etc.  

 

--DCS evangelists inbound, bearing 090.  Range, 2 posts.

Some people go out of there way to say DCS is dying, or to paint a bad picture, but here we are 16+ years and still producing content, releasing regular patches for the core and modules. For some the glass is always half empty.