Launched with grand ambitions on Steam back in late September, 'HoYeon' (internationally known as Blade & Soul Heroes) is now essentially heading towards the exit. It has been little more than two months since its debut, and global players have already turned their backs on it, with daily concurrent players struggling to even crack triple digits.

HoYeon kicked off on Steam with 2,999 concurrent players on its first day, but that figure plummeted to 792 within a mere week. By November 29, it hit a grim all-time low of 89 players. As of December 5, the daily peak remains at a dismal 97, proving that the 100-player mark has completely collapsed.

User sentiment sits at 'Mixed' (65% positive out of 850 reviews). While the score isn't entirely catastrophic, the mood is venomous, with persistent whispers of review manipulation. Critics point to the lazy porting of mobile-tier UI to PC, clunky mouse and keyboard controls, shallow auto-combat mechanics, and an aggressive monetization model. Add to that the jarring disconnect from the original 'Blade & Soul', frequent technical crashes, and a narrative that can only be described as derivative and childish.

In truth, this outcome was written on the wall. Having already faltered in the domestic market, the game needed a massive overhaul before attempting a global jump. Instead, the developers simply ported the existing package to a new platform. Despite initial promises to tone down the pay-to-win elements in favor of player convenience, the consensus remains that it is still very much a pay-to-win affair. Given that NCSoft had already initiated restructuring within the HoYeon team, the idea that they would suddenly pivot to provide robust support for the global launch was always a pipe dream. Its failure was, frankly, inevitable.

Meanwhile, the global charts are dominated by Total War: Warhammer III and its various DLCs. While a 75% discount helped, the real catalyst was the 7.0 patch and the 'Tides of Torment' DLC, unveiled during the Total War 25th-anniversary broadcast on the 5th. The campaign AI received a significant upgrade—specifically, the AI now manages budgets more effectively when recruiting shared-resource units like the Lizardmen, avoiding inefficient blunders. Combat balance has also been tweaked, with Demon Prince weapon damage adjusted and large units like dragons receiving buffs to mass and speed. To top it off, legacy lord textures have been upscaled, and a heap of technical bugs—such as turn-end freezes and Ogre camp errors—have been squashed, earning the update a warm reception.

In the daily peak concurrent players Top 20, ARC Raiders saw a massive surge of over 60,000 players compared to the previous day, while Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree continues to see steady growth following its DLC launch.