PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds: Sales hit 30 million but player numbers start inevitable decline

Sales of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds have now passed 30 million on PC, representing another huge milestone for the surprise hit of 2017. However, as the online shooter continues to rack up sales, its players numbers are starting to drop.

According to Steam Charts the average number of active PC players over the last 30 days dropped by 6%. This is the first such drop since the game launched into early access last March.

However, the game still has an average active player base of nearly 1.5 million and a peak player count of more than 3.1 million, less than 100,000 shy of its all-time, record-breaking peak of 3.2 million. That peak was recorded only last month.

Much of the game's success has been attributed to its immense popularity in China, where growth has slowed.

With the recent release of the game's Xbox One version and an official free-to-play mobile version in China, developers PUBG Corp have new avenues for growth and success.

In addition to the 30 million sales on PC, the last official sales figures revealed that the Xbox version has sold three million in just its first month on sale.

It's also worth noting that having an average of 1.5 million people playing your game at any one time is still pretty good going. It's like when Pokémon Go numbers started to dwindle a few months after it gripped the world following its initial release. Such a fall is inevitable.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is an online 'Battle Royale' shooter in which 100 players compete for the best gear in an effort to be the last surviving player or squad. The PC game left early access and became a full 1.0 release in December. It remains in early access on Xbox.