ACC player counts in review: May 2023

Last month, the release of the 2023 GTWC DLC pack caused many records for Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC) to be broken. But what goes up, must come down. That’s just basic physics. Unless, of course, you’ve reached escape velocity. Did ACC’s player stats escape the clutches of gravity? You’ll find out as we dive into the numbers for May 2023!

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.

A short TL;DR in advance:

  • May was still a very strong month, despite a near 5% decrease in peak activity and 8% in average, non-peak activity
  • It still lists, historically, as 3rd and 4th in the respective categories on the all-time list
  • Next month will traditionally see the biggest decline in player activity – so brace yourselves for summer!

Looking back: April 2023

Before we do, though, let us look back at April’s record-setting numbers by looking at the TL;DR of the April 2023’s review:

  • New daily, weekly, and monthly records for both peak-concurrent and total average player counts. Oh yes.
  • Only one record (single month absolute growth) was not broken, due to strong numbers leading up to the DLC release
  • Year-on-year growth is maintained, for now at least.

With a record-setting monthly peak average of 5666 players, surely that number would have to go down, right? But the question is: by how much? And will it (the decline) be small enough to be able to maintain the current year-on-year growth?

May 2023: comparing daily ACC player counts

Fig. 1: Peak concurrent (red) and average (grey) player counts

The numbers above are May 2023’s numbers. If you’re new to these reviews: in red, you’ll find the peak concurrent player count for each day of the month. This means the daily highest number that people are playing ACC at the same time. In grey, you’ll find the average player count throughout the day.

Since the DLC release was on April 19th, the start of May still experienced a bit of a boost with May 1st reaching the highest peak (and average) of the month, with 6361 (and 3365).

What followed was a gradual decline, with a peak concurrent of 4761 on May 20th as the lowest scoring peak. Another small peak can be seen on May 25th, which was when version 1.9.3 dropped – which included the new Mclaren 720s GT3 Evo.

This new release meant that the month closed out a bit better than the outlook midway through would have suggested, but it still results in a negative trendline, which was to be expected, on both accounts: the peak concurrent trendline dips from ~5700 to ~5100, while the average trendline dips from ~2600 to ~2300.

Fig. 2: Combined peak concurrent (red) and average (grey) player counts of 2023

The graph above puts this month’s numbers into context against the numbers we experienced this year so far. May is hovering around about February’s numbers, which is traditionally a good thing as ACC sees a lot more activity in the cold winter months.

We can still see positive trendlines here, which are mostly due to the DLC release. But, we can expect the trajectory of the trendline to go down in the next few months until it is either horizontal or trending negatively.

May 2023: comparing weekly ACC player counts

Fig. 3: Weekly average concurrent player counts for 2023 so far.

Another way of putting things into perspective is by looking at weekly average numbers. And by averaging May’s numbers on a weekly basis, we get 4 full weeks of data to add to these graphs.

This way perhaps makes the boost in activity by the DLC release more clear, as the first week opens with 5718 (which ranks as the 7th all-time highest weekly average), only to trend downwards to 5167 by the third week. A small recovery to 5298 is perhaps best ascribed to the new Mclaren and should not be seen as a trend break.

When comparing these numbers to previous years, it is clear to see we are just above the 2022 and 2021 numbers.

Fig. 4: Weekly average peak concurrent player counts for 2023 so far (red) compared to 2022 (white) and 2021 (grey).

What else is clear to see? Well, the incoming drop which traditionally starts in June and continues through summer, until September.

But, how do those numbers stack up on a monthly basis? Find out in the next paragraph!

May 2023: comparing monthly ACC player counts

Fig. 5: All-time peak and average player counts

May was a strong month. Yes, it was not as strong as last month, but it just missed out, by exactly 1 average concurrent player, to be the second-best month for ACC on record. The average of 5419 ranks this month 3rd, just below the 5420 of April 2022 and the 5666 of April 2023.

In terms of average (i.e. non-peak) player activity, the month ranks fourth in total. Not too bad for a game that will reach its 4th birthday this month (June 2023).

And, importantly, this month’s average of 5419 is higher than the 5168 of May of 2022, meaning the year-on-year average got another little bump. Taking the average of the past year from 4600 to 4621 and ever closer to the highest year-on-year average we experienced before (4675, from December 2021 to November 2022)

Fig. 6: 12-month running average of peak concurrent player counts

In terms of growth, this month was – understandably, one of negative growth. But, with an average peak of just 247 (figure 8) less than last month (or a decrease of just 4.36%, figure 7), this is well within an acceptable range.

Fig. 7: Relative growth since January 2020
Fig. 8: Absolute growth since January 2020

Last Month, I said the peak concurrent player count could drop to 5000 by the end of the month, and mentioned a potential 5500 average. The decline was a bit less linear than I expected, with the peak concurrent player count dropping to about 5200 average and the monthly average being 5419, I still think I was not very far off in my prediction!

Looking forward to next month: June 2023

As I mentioned before, next month will be ACC’s 4th birthday since leaving Early Access in June 2019. I wonder if Kunos or 505 Games will be highlighting this moment. Perhaps with a free weekend, or potentially an announcement regarding the anticipated GT2 DLC release which should still be in the works.

I don’t think they would be releasing anything yet, and history has shown that Kunos is tight-lipped about release dates, only announcing final, exact dates just a couple of weeks in advance (instead of a more general release window they would aim for). Which, for people like me, is hell.

Unfortunately, I don’t think ACC’s birthday will have anything more than a celebratory livestream by Aris. But hey, I’d love to be wrong on that account. It’s just wise not to get your hopes up.

As the summer closes in, this traditionally means the player count diminishes. Last year, the peak concurrent player count dropped drastically, from 5168 to 4450 which is a 13.89% decrease. In 2021, it decreased from 4849 to 4296, an 11.6% decrease. A similar decrease this year would mean an average of about 4700. I think that would be a decent aim, but I realistically think it will be a bit lower, perhaps around 4500.

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

Overview & Previous Articles

2023

2022

2021

2020

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2 Responses

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    […] May 2023 (avg. 5419, -4.4%) […]

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    […] May 2023 (avg. 5419, -4.4%) […]

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