Released on the 6th February — and available day one through PS Plus Essential — Foamstars has, reportedly, seen its player numbers completely fall off a cliff over the last couple of months. As researched by TrueTrophies, using PSN gameplay data, the stylised PS5 and PS4 shooter has now lost around 95% of its player count since launch.
That's a brutal decline for any game, but for a live service title, it's the kind of stat that immediately raises questions regarding longevity. Launching an attractive live service game is hard enough, but keeping it alive for a reasonable amount of time is even harder. The hardest part of all, though? Regaining lost ground once the game starts slipping — a near impossible task when your title's stuck with an increasingly negative perception.
Of course, it doesn't help that Foamstars released just two days before Helldivers 2 — a live service game that's gone on to become an absolute smash hit. It's one hell (pun not intended) of a contrast, and just goes to show how volatile the live service landscape is at this point.
It's also worth mentioning that Foamstars has come under fire for its monetisation model. Priced at $29.99 / £24.99, it's not a free-to-play title, but that hasn't stopped it from being stuffed with in-game purchases — some of which are eye-wateringly expensive.
Did you have higher expectations for Foamstars? What do you think the game's near future looks like? Add another one to the list in the comments section below.
[source truetrophies.com]
Comments 80
I was wondering how long it would be before we started hearing this.
The game looked fun, but exclusive to PlayStation and releasing that close to Helldivers? It never had much of a chance.
It wasn't a month before it was 2 days before lol
@J-Dubs Yep, I somehow second guessed myself twice with this. Was convinced Helldivers 2 was last month for some reason.
Another day, another failing live service game.
I feel like I'm repeating myself but when will these companies learn to stop making these games?
Should have been F2P and should have not caused you to sink a bank loan for its MTX and battle pass.
@ShogunRok I edited my comment to make it safe either way 😌
This was just another game that was made with money in mind first and the gameplay being second.
Democracy won
Maybe release it on PC & Xbox perhaps? 🤔 Of all the things to have as exclusive this isn't it, not that it will help much as this game's future is bleaker than Suicide Squad.
Another live service game proving that Helldivers is the exception, not the rule.
No one saw this coming
Is this surprising to anyone?
@Juanalf It's not exclusive to Playstation bro
Not surprised, this looked dire from the word go.
@Nepp67 Google is lying to me then because is telling me only on PS5 & PS4 🤷 and like I said it wouldn't matter if it was on the Dreamcast the game has no future, I'm just waiting to see which one goes under first between this and Suicide Squad take your pick.
Good. The more Live Service Games that die out the better.
Perhaps Sony will then finally get it through their thick skull that people don't want them. At all.
Singleplayer has always been Sony's strongest suit (Last of Us, Spider Man, God of War.. hell, even R&C Rift Apart's story was great). Not this live service crap.
EDIT: Apparently Foamstars isn't exclusive to the PS5.. Odd. Oh well, my point still stands haha
Wow, what a surprise...
@Nepp67 it is for now - PC version releases in a few months
@Juanalf The game is exclusive to playstation right now as it's only available for PS4 and PS5, the PC version is launching this year but that won't save it anyway, same if it did released on Xbox it wouldn't get enough attention. This game is dying for other reasons.
Bye 👋 another one bites the dust!
I played it, it’s their own fault.
They were already ripping off Splatoon, they should have completely ripped it. Death match in that game isn’t fun compared to mixing in painting the environment.
It doesn't have a platinum, that says enough about of how much work was in this game and how PlayStation sees this game.
One successful live service game is worth 10 failures to publishers, they say, and since Helldivers 2 was such a success I recommend Sony just cancel the rest.
I tried playing it but could only get 1 game in a hour of trying. If you can't play it there no point to the game.
@Maubari Helldivers 2 has a thing or two to say about people not wanting these games.
@Anke When there is zero potential for a mega hit like Helldivers 2.
Sad to see as the game is fun and music is great.
@Voltan Aah that's why
Could've told them its future was bleak after the beta
Helldivers 2 a perfect unicorn in a sea of other test tube abominations of live service monstrosities.
I couldn't get into it. I love platoon and was completely optimistic.. but the gameplay didn't click. Felt convoluted and clunky. Shame.
The game is kinda boring tbh. I signed up for PSN to HellDive and it's included with Essential. Good looking. The physics with the foam are pretty cool. But booooooooring.
@Maubari
Live service games are literally the most played playstation games of the year
Fortnite, GTAV, EAFC, Rocket League, Minecraft, Apex, Warzone, Overwatch 2, Dead by Daylight, Genshin Impact, Destiny 2
The latest big predominantly single player game release is Dragons Dogma 2 which is 20th
Literally all anyone plays is live service games... Old ones at that, nothing new
Saw this one biting the dust ever since it was announced at that abysmal PS Showcase back in May of last year...
But if it contributes even 5% to Sony giving up the useless chase for that Live Service Unicorn, then at least this failure isn't for nothing....
@ShogunRok " It's one hell (pun not intended) of a contrast "
As for Foamsters crashing and burning.
@Shinnok789 PlayStation's top 10 most played games are all live service titles, with an average age of 6 years old
None of the are Sony games. In fact Sony only has 1 game in the top 20 most played games on PlayStation
Sony need to crack that live service nut to survive in a world dominated by Fortnite, Genshin, Roblox, Minecraft, GTA Online, Red Dead Online, Apex, CoD, Overwatch 2 & Dead by Daylight
Live service is all people are playing. Not even new ones. Too many games are dying under their weight
I had a feeling this wasn't going to last.
@Juanalf Good lord. No. Have you played it? They'd lose even more $ releasing it on other platforms. I'm a huge PS guy, but this game is flat out garbage.
Well deserved, bring more live service games, so we can shut then down.
@Anke When they stop hiring help that's less interested in entertainment than they are about other issues. So, probably no time soon.
This is probably Square Enixs best attempt at a live service (not including MMORPGs), but its probably going to join Babylons Fall, Outriders and Avengers in an eternal slumber
I played one match (for the Hololive collaboration event). My team seemed to consist of generic default low levels while our opponents were all kitted out and clearly had quite a bit of playtime. We were absolutely stomped, so I uninstalled the game and...that was my first and last impression of the game.
@LordFunkalot
The way I see it that Helldivers built a game that includes a live service element. Most other devs are trying to build a live service that includes a game.
Well... it is a copy of Splatoon, it makes sense it wouldn't have longevity. It didn't really bring anything new to the table.
It's a bit of a shame as I actually had some decent fun with it but yeah I didn't feel like it had legs to really keep going very long.
@Maubari I just want to point out that non of Sonys efforts into live service has impacted their budget in single player games.
Its not like they stopped investment in single player games. They upped the budget to invest in live service.
Nothing was cancelled for their live service effort.
Non of its core teams in which they have absolute control (first party) have made a live service game as of yet.
Maybe you could use Naughty Dog but in all honesty they were going to make a multiplayer part anyway as history shows.
We are still getting the single player games they are just taking alot longer than any of us on the outside thought they would take.
Must stink to spend time and money creating a huge flop, but I guess you never know what will be a hit. I was turned off by the wacky, cartoony look so it never appealed to me but hopefully they learn from this
We all told them. Yeah they had too much MTX focus. Not enough mode focus/good moveset/gameplay ideas to keep people interested.
Helldivers has a $40 price but it has depth. Foamstars has no depth or an artstyle that appeals to an audience that can't buy it/has to pay PS+ and that's why is suffered. Lacking ideas of maps/modes so glaringly obvious yet they push the business model the idiots. What else is new.
Well time for someone else to make a paintball/foam game with a reverse foam maze, traps, foam and other chemicals mixing, surfboard race, foam contest, very particular maps to take advantage of you have FOAM and gameplay ideas around that and more but Foamstars is too dull it's so basic and pathetic I can't not dream up ideas to make it better to fill in so many blanks. Not that I'd salvage it, it's terrible and deserves to die. If fans wanted to revive it with private servers (and put more modes in) sure but Square/the dev won't.
But they did also highlight how barren this game is of ideas for a multiplayer game. It's moveset sucked. Splatoon's moveset in 2 made me go wow the more I played it and it's outdated by 3 but I don't know what 3 offers but going back to 1 I noticed immediately the changes.
The modes were lacking and just reworked versions of 2 modes in other games so what's the point in playing if no gain/exciting element but cosmetics and money. Gameplay matters in multiplayer yet they failed to do anything about it.
It's just so obvious yet it's a Square published studio they push story because those devs are too stupid to understand gameplay depth to interest an audience these days.
Square themselves with FF16/7 Rebirth put a lot of gameplay and some while not polished (many minigames in 7 Rebirth are a bit off at times of controls or polish they are still there and cool to see) were still good alongside the story, their published titles by other teams seem to just flop because they just don't put the effort in enough.
Foamstars was a MTX/cosmetics game with 2 modes and 2-3 seasons of nothing much at all to be excited about and PS+ to keep it alive at first to just keep paying yeah no one wanted to do that.
Diofield (story dragged out, bad gameplay lacking depth after chapter 4) or Foamstars especially while their remakes are fine just some parts of them just bother me (Front Mission 1st Remake and Tactics Ogre Reborn as a newcomer to both series besides well Front Mission Evolved but it's a different genre anyway).
Yet they maybe tried but pushed cosmetics and other garbage like money greedy idiots then understanding how to make a compelling video game to make people want to let alone like Fornite offer crossovers or more out of the expected content that's why those succeed.
Crossovers are hard to do but even other types of ideas could have happened of modes. Or you get good ideas for updates in a Minecraft/Roblox or community content creations help too. Oh well they deserve to disappear with their business model and pathetic game anyways.
The visuals/cosmetics don't do much for players to stick around. Yet even if Splatoon multiplayer dies which 1's did on April 8th the campaigns are this there and great. Let alone split screen. Or the DLCs till the eshops go down.
But Salmon Run as an addition (even if people didn't play the first game on Wii U) to others exist or change ups over time with events and what not (I don't follow the multiplayer but I know it happens) and not just the same modes/basic gameplay over and over which Foamstars seems to not understand.
So if people wanted a PlayStation Splatoon it's dead and well PS+ only did so much in the beginning and people moved on. They weren't going to keep paying for it or get interested in bland direction for a game like Foamstars.
Especially when the Foam is so underused in this game it's just annoying in my gameplay focused brain to think up so many ideas yet they barely did anything with foam.
A very flexible thing to make work with mechanics in video games. Let alone Splatoon has it's own use cases for ink in a certain way but is more character focused then the foam that clumps itself but isn't used in interesting ways.
Why do some devs or Square published games have devs with so little gameplay understanding. For multiplayer this is why they failed is not enough modes/good gameplay ideas. It's just hilarious.
@GrandValkyrie I knew it would flop because the gameplay was so weak. The artstyle wasn't that appealing either.
I had many mode ideas in mind before launch and the game just kept pushing in the wrong direction, 2 modes and not enough depth. Too much cosmetics and MTX focus then on the gameplay.
I didn't play it as I don't have PS+/not a multiplayer type (or didn't want to support this game anyway) but yeah thinking up ideas for it to see it just keep pushing the wrong direction then keep itself interesting was not surprising to see happen.
Diofield did as well too much story that kind of sucked, and gameplay lacking depth after chapter 4 and dragging it out, flops. I still platinumed it like I planned to, didn't make it any more bland because of how much they gave up on gameplay.
It's a weird contrast from Square themselves with FF16/7 Rebirth/Enix with Dragon Quest putting effort in their own titles in all areas but the other studios they help publish seem to just struggle to understand depth and good game design to interest a playerbase long term and put the effort in other areas hence they flop.
For a multiplayer title especially gameplay or maps matters yet they focus too much on the business model. Which is why it failed.
I don't support live services (doesn't mean I didn't have many ideas for the game to actually survive of modes) but it was clear to see why it sucked they put their priorities into the wrong areas.
I'm glad I don't spend time (and more importantly money) on live-service games.
Mtx driven inferior clone of Nintendo sensation fails. Surprised Pikachu face.
it was fun with other players tbh... but in my opinion it should have a proper customization like adornments and costumes that you don't have to pay lol O well sad..
What?!!! I was hoping we would one day get Foam-con. Oh, the horror.. the horror!!!!
The single player modes were boring and ridiculously simple, and the multiplayer was a chaotic mess.
articles like these just give the multiplayer haters more fuel .
garbage games give multiplayer a bad rep; plenty of dud single players too though
Oh no! Anyway...
But seriously though, that's hardly surprising, and knowing Square this probably won't stop them from churning out more live service titles.
Great news. The more they fail hopefully the more they push companies to stick with single player games.
I tired it, but I could barely find any games in the first week. Haven’t played it since.
Each big company has a money to risk. A lot of them nowadays are risking on these live game models. If works, they will benefit tremendously, if not, in worst case scenario they make some employees redundant which is unfortunate but it's becoming trendy since last year. So they themselves don't lose that much by risking the formula
It was another live service, so I automatically had no interest in it, even for free.
@MeatyVeg You cannot mix apples and pears. Of course online games are most played, because people are stuck in them for months. But gamers play lots if different games thru year.
Ohh noooo! Another ps plus monthly games slot wasted on Foamstars next month...
@gymratAmarillo For me i had games with no Platinum that have better quality then those that have. A even better example is shovelware made for platinum trophies nothing more nothing less. My name is Mayo is a great example trophies = quality is total nonsense.
the scrap heap is starting to get massive for live service games.
why do they need a new '"live-service-shoot-each-other every couple of months?"
It's frustrating when this took up a PS plus slot a couple of months too, these live services games are not long term either, what an annoyance 😑
@Maubari like I said, this game took up a month essential slot in the past comming months when it should have never did that, it's an short term investment that adds little value to any gamers time whatsoever
@Bez87 as far as I know they are using Bend for a live service. Which seems like a waste to me. But I don’t like live service games, or multiplayer. So I’m definitely biased. Cheers.
@Anke When will these big companies fire who ever is doing their market research? Who the hell do they think they are making these games for?
Look: a tale of two pricing models.
What publishers and developers need to take from Helldivers 2 is is that live service/GaaS titles are NOT necessarily dying. The market isn't necessarily outright against them. What is against them is their egregious price gouging for worthless/trivial *****.
You can make a hit game in the space. But focus it on fun and respecting players' time and wallets and you can have a hit on your hand that exceeds all the wildest expectations.
@djlard it's already happened dude, I got it months ago and never even bothered trying it
There did seem a weird amount of hate towards this game even before it came out. I am not a big multiplayer fan but had fun with this but the MTX were crazy prices. Battle pass wasnt to bad at £4.99 but the outfits and other stuff was massively overpriced.
@tangyzesty hah! It is proof how forgetable this thing is... Fortunately it already happened.
I knew this was gonna be the case in several months time. Though, I didn't expect it to be TWO months into it's life. Guess it'll be shut down before the year ends or something.
The pity is if they made it a game first i would see this working but damn you start and the first thing you get slammed with is bad customization that you csn only fix by buying costumes. A pity the game does look fun but there is nothing to get for free its all lockef behind a paywall and even that content is lacking.
@bindiana The problem is there is so little content and wjat there is is locked behind a paywall its makes me feel annoyed from the start. Even the payed content is not to special its a pity the game looks like it could be fun without the hard push towards monetization.
@Flaming_Kaiser You did get some cosmetics free in the battle pass I never paid for the battle bass and think I got 6 cosmetics and a character but there were about 35 levels on the pass so a low % was free. It is a shame as if they got the monetisation right could have some legs but I played for one season and a few games into the second season then dropped it.
@DoppiaD the one studio whos only ever made syphon filter and a couple of psp games and took that long to make Days Gone half the studio left?
Not saying Days Gone was bad. I actually enjoyed it but their track record isn't on the scale with the main first party studios.
I'm pretty sure this wasn't Sony making them make that type of game either.
@bindiana Ok you could get some stuff but its ao mediocre why even bother. Even the payed stuff is ok at best.
Im going to try it one more time tommorrow but if the first impression is this disappointing then i wont get my hopes up.
Yesterday i tried it but i looks so ok and these free to play games sucks up so much time when i play then i really not need to feel wow but its just not there at first glance.
@Bez87 From what I read, it was indeed an internal idea. Clearly Sony green-lit it though.
I don't know, I understand Days Gone wasn't a success economically, but it "sold" 7mil copies. Most of them on sale and PS+, but still. It warranted some kind of sequel. IMO. But maybe it is just that I'm biased because I really enjoyed the game and I would want to play more of it.
Cheers.
@Americansamurai1 100% agreed. Can't believe Sony are doubling down on live service games. Surely they would rather have players locked into 1-3 live service games rather than a possible 10?
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