ACC player counts in review: September 2023

The summer is now officially over as we have reached October. Historically, that means the summer dip is over and we can look at increased player activity in Assetto Corsa Competizione (ACC). Would that be the case again this year? That is what we will try to find out in this post as we dive into the numbers set by September 2023!

A short TL;DR in advance:

  • Average peak concurrent player activity rose by nearly 16% to 4721
  • Most of this can be ascribed to the free weekend which increased activity from 14 to 18th September
  • This caused the Year-on-Year average peak concurrent player count to rise to 4710, a new record!

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.

Contents

  1. Looking back: August 2023
  2. September 2023: Comparing daily ACC player counts
  3. September 2023: Comparing weekly ACC player counts
  4. September 2023: Comparing monthly ACC player counts
  5. Looking forward to next month: October 2023
  6. Overview & Previous Articles

Looking back: August 2023

Fig. 1: Daily player counts for August 2023

Before we do look at the numbers of September 2023, though, let us look back at the numbers (fig. 1 on the right) and the TL;DR of the August 2023 review below. August had a total peak average of 4083, with a range between 3530 minimum and 4631 maximum.

August saw a steep decline in player activity, as the quoted TL;DR below reads. But, it was very close to the results from previous years during the same time of year. Hence, the decline itself was nothing to worry about, just regular summer stuff!

  • The player activity declined in August 2023 by 9.11%, but this was expected
  • The 3-month summer decline is just 0.02% more than the same period in 2022
  • Temperatures in The Netherlands seem directly impact overall peak player counts

In the same vein, the previous September months have always been the start of the Autumn recovery.

Now that we got this out of the way, let’s see whether September 2023 was another start to the Autumn recovery!

September 2023: Comparing daily ACC player counts

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

September started approximately the same way August ended, with numbers dwindling at the 4K-line albeit more above it than below it. This all changed midway through September when ACC encountered another free weekend. From September 14th 19:00 CEST until September 18th 19:00 CEST, players could drive the bases game for free and buy it and its DLCs at a discount.

This resulted in heightened player activity for:

  • Thursday 14th: 4956 peak, 1989 average
  • Friday 15th: 5736 peak, 2870 average
  • Saturday 16th: 6004 peak, 3757 average
  • Sunday 17th: 6492 peak, 3709 average
  • Monday 18th: 5585 peak, 2656 average

More interestingly, the player numbers kept up throughout the following weeks, ending the month strongly at around 4500. This is most likely more due to returning players picking up discounted DLC than new players starting at the game. Not saying there aren’t any new players at all though, this is just a hunch.

This also caused an upward trendline for both peak and average graphs, but those should not be taken to mean anything more than the effect the free weekend had.

Fig. 3: Daily player counts for 2023 (from January 1st to August 31st)

Putting these numbers in the graph containing all daily peaks and averages (Figure 3, above), you can more clearly see how the free weekend positively impacted peak player activity. This month’s highest peak of 6492 is the highest peak (second to this year’s DLC release).

Conversely, this month’s lowest peak of 3851 fits in nicely with the current trend.

September 2023: Comparing weekly ACC player counts

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

Adding these daily numbers together to take weekly averages, the effect of the free weekend can not be seen in the week itself (5159) but also in the subsequent week (5057) in which the effect it had on player activity is sustained. These averages (temporarily) bring us back to numbers not encountered in the last quarter due to the annual ‘summer dip’.

However, the end of the summer dip was most likely already reached in August with its lowest point at 3843. The following weeks were already trending higher, and the free weekend only sealed the deal. If we look at Figure 5 (below), this aligns at least somewhat with the previous years.

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

But, how do those numbers stack up every month? Find out in the next paragraph!

September 2023: Comparing monthly ACC player counts

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

All of these numbers combined bring us to a total average peak concurrent player count for September 2023 of 4721. The total average in the meantime rose to 2277. This brings us back to the numbers from late autumn 2022 and winter 2023.

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

The 4721 peak concurrent player count average means a whipping rise of 15.63% in peak activity, which is a welcome change after the summer’s decline.

While an increase in peak player activity in September is normal, this particular September’s peak activity growth is a cut above the growth encountered in previous years, as seen in Figure 8 below.

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

In terms of absolute growth, the increase of 638 compared to last month similarly shoulders above previous Septembers, in figure 9 and 10 above.

Putting these numbers in a graph makes it easier to see how we are currently well above the already record-setting numbers we achieved in 2022, with the gap between 2022 and 2023 only further increasing, from 200-300 in the previous months to 500 (figure 11 below).

Fig. 11: Monthly peak concurrent averages by year

This also greatly affects our year-on-year monthly peak average, which is currently the highest it’s ever been. Between October 1st, 2022, and September 30th, 2023, the average peak concurrent player count has been 4710. The previous highest-scoring yearly average was the period between December 1st, 2021 and November 30th, 2022.

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

Looking forward to next month: October 2023

If we are to continue breaking the Year-on-Year record, ACC should score a monthly average peak concurrent player count of more than 4469. With the current player counts, this looks like a realistic goal to achieve. Especially since October is most often a month of growth (in 2020 and 2022) or stagnation (2021). True, this month’s numbers were inflated by the free weekend, but even with a few % decline we should remain above 4469.

What surprised me somewhat is that a free weekend for ACC is still able to impact the game’s player activity to such an extent. This means that there are still either new people to attract or returning players to pull back into the game. One could be forgiven for thinking that there would be diminishing returns on free weekends like this, but fortunately enough that is not the case (yet, anyway).

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

Overview & Previous Articles

2023

2022

2021

2020

SOCIALS

If you want to stay on top of my latest endeavors, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram. I also occasionally post videos on my YouTube channel if I find the time to do so.

Tags:

You may also like...

Please, let me know what you think!