ACC player counts in review: November 2023

We’ve arrived at already the final month of 2023, December. This means it’s time to look at the penultimate month, November. What has the past month brought for Assetto Corsa Competizione’s (ACC) player activity? Were people flocking back to their sim rigs now that the days are running shorter and – more importantly – colder? That is what we will explore in this post as we dive into the numbers set by November 2023!

A short TL;DR in advance:

  • November was a good month for ACC, but it’s stability means rather boring data;
  • New Year-on-Year-records continue to be set, with ACC performing strongly all year;
  • When the next DLC releases remains the big question for future records.

In this series of articles – I’ve been doing this since March 2020 – I analyze the playercounts from Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC) using data from steamdb. I implement the data into my own spreadsheets, creating my own graphics and tables.

  1. Looking back: October 2023
  2. November 2023: Comparing daily ACC player counts
  3. November 2023: Comparing weekly ACC player counts
  4. November 2023: Comparing monthly ACC player counts
  5. Looking ahead: December 2023
  6. Overview & Previous Articles

Looking back: October 2023

Fig. 1: Daily player counts for October 2023

Before we look at the numbers from November, though, let us look back at the numbers (fig. 1 on the right) and the TL;DR of the October 2023 review below.

  • ACC continues strongly, once again improving the Year-on-Year record second month in a row
  • ACC looks poised to keep improving the Year-on-Year record for the remainder of 2023
  • The announcement of Nordschleife means that ACC is far from done, despite AC2 looming

Now that we got this out of the way, let’s see if November continued this upward trend!

November 2023: Comparing daily ACC player counts

Fig. 2: Peak concurrent (red) and average (grey) player counts

In terms of horizontal trendlines, they can’t be a lot more horizontal than November’s. With the trend holding steady at ~5100, the lowest peak of 4402 was on Friday 17th, while its highest peak of 5717 was achieved on Sunday 26th. The latter was boosted by the Steam Autumn Sale, which ran from the 21st until the 28th.

The daily average player activity (grey in figure 2 above) again shows the typical weekend peaks, but with a slight downward trend inbetween the weekends – except for the Autumn Sale period.

Fig. 3: Daily player counts for 2023 (from January 1st to November 30th)

The rather unremarkable nature of this month is also pretty visible when putting November’s numbers in the wider context of the previous 10 months of data we’ve generated this year. So, instead of wasting a lot of words on this – lets move on to the other stuff!

November 2023: Comparing weekly ACC player counts

Fig. 4: Weekly average concurrent player counts for 2023 so far.

Unsurprisingly, the weekly averages don’t immediately indicate anything interesting. The numbers are high. However, there might be a little hint of a decline – which was nullified by the Steam Autumn Sale. But if there even was a decline, it was too statistically insignificant to ring any bells. Let alone alarm bells.

Fig. 5: Weekly average peak concurrent player counts for 2023 so far (red) compared to 2022 (white) and 2021 (grey).

Compared to 2022 and 2021, these past months have been sitting well above the 2022 and 2021 numbers. However, the end of November 2021 kickstarted one of the most active periods in ACC history, which went unsurpassed until recently (if we don’t count DLC releases).

We will stay (in general, at least) above this for the next few weeks, but once January 2024 reaches us we will have to compare with January 2022.

November 2023: Comparing monthly ACC player counts

Fig. 6: All-time peak and average player counts

October’s 4924 was a 4.3% increase over September’s 4721. November reaches 5090 average peak player activity, which is itself a 3.37% increase.

Fig. 7: Relative growth of monthly average peak player counts

Historically, there is not really a trend for November since the data has frequently been muddied with DLC releases in the past. The only other time there was no DLC release in November (2022) there had been a decrease of .58%, as seen below.

Fig. 8: Relative growth since January 2020, grouped by month
Fig. 9: Absolute growth since January 2020
Fig. 10: Absolute growth since January 2020, grouped by month
Fig. 11: Monthly peak averages, grouped by month

Figure 11 shows the differences in peak player activity we’ve had over 12-month periods. Remarkably, November was the first month where in previous years the data has lined up. But then, this year, we are head and shoulders above the others. Well clear as well, with the difference being over 600.

This convergence of player activity can perhaps be better understood by looking at the chart in Figure 12 below.

Fig. 12: Monthly peak concurrent averages by year
Fig. 13: 12-month running average of peak concurrent player counts

The fact that we are now 600 clear of any other November month, instantly means we have about another 600 / 12 = 50 increase in the year-on-year average. And surely, the YoY-average increases once again, now from 4748 to 4802. Meaning that we are still improving on our best 12-month period.

Looking ahead: December 2023

November was a good month, but rather boring. Hence, this review has fewer words: I didn’t feel like spicing up steady data. But steady, boring data is good for ACC. It shows that the game is still going strong, both to potential buyers, (returning) players, the developers, and most of all the publisher. With AC2 being postponed they might see the loyalty ACC has garnered and draw conclusions based on that.

Actually, I think that might already be why ACC is getting the Nordschleife after all those years. Because of a projected positive return on investment.

Digital Bros, 505Games’ parent company, has been in the mud following a decline in stock value in the past 12 months. So a quick financial jackpot is just the thing they would want. So they have a choice to make:

  • Rush out AC2 in a potentially unfinished state, damaging the brand long-term but grabbing a load of cash short-term.
  • Prepare more ACC DLC at a lower cost and a near-guaranteed profit while AC2 has a longer time in the oven.

But when would you maximize profit from a Nordschleife release? Why how good of you to ask. I’d say a prime release window would be the week before Christmas. Wouldn’t you?

What are your thoughts on the future of ACC? Let me know in the comments below!

Overview & Previous Articles

2023

2022

2021

2020

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1 Response

  1. ACC player counts in review: December 2023 - FELIXDICIT
    January 2, 2024

    […] from December, though, let us look back at the numbers (fig. 1 on the right) and the TL;DR of the November 2023 review […]

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