In a big win for democracy, Helldivers 2 sales keep rising 3 weeks from launch: "An honest-to-goodness inverse decay curve so far"

Helldivers 2 sales keep on ticking up more than three weeks after launch, and even some industry analysts are dumbfounded.

As noted by analyst Mat Piscatella on Twitter, Helldivers 2 sales are defying the conventional wisdom that a new game will typically see its highest sales in its first week after launch and then gradually dwindle until something like a major update or discount inspires a sales bump. Instead, Helldivers 2 sales continue to increase despite no big sale or content drop since its release on February 8. Piscatella refers to this as an "honest-to-goodness inverse decay curve," which is a rare enough thing that he calls it "amazing."

"With an 'inverse decay curve' the trend reverses," he explains. "It's rare, particularly for bigger games. Just saying 'growth' doesn't explain the nature - as 'growth' could be temporary, ie from discounting.

"Using the term 'inverse decay curve' denotes that baseline sales are improving, unrelated to short-term things that can impact incremental demand. I mean, or just keep saying it's pretentious or obnoxious that's cool too. Live your dream."

Other folks in the industry are equally astonished by Helldivers 2's enduring sales success.

I don't think I've *ever* seen this https://t.co/S1FuIj5OUQMarch 4, 2024

Love me an inverse decay curve!Commercial surprises like Helldivers 2 and Palworld are enjoyable to cover, and cheer on, amidst all the industry's challenges.2024 is going to continue being a rough year. I am trying to celebrate the good stories too.https://t.co/ieMIX39QPaMarch 4, 2024

Eventually we'll all just be playing #Helldivers2, right? Even people who prefer Hello Kitty Island Adventure will be dropping into hell with the rest of us.[I actually played #Starfield for a good three hours the other night, so it's not all HD2 all the time. I'm not running… https://t.co/AFJe5ObPRvMarch 4, 2024

Arrowhead itself didn't expect the co-op shooter to be as explosively popular as it has been, as evidenced by the Helldivers