In stats coming from githyp following the launch of Ubisoft’s competitive hack and slasher, it seems that For Honor’s player base is split almost 50/50 across Steam and uPlay. With Steam still being the preferred platform for PC gaming and with many still holding a healthy disdain for uPlay, it’s quite something to see For Honor’s user base split almost down the middle between different distribution platforms.
If you’re looking to take to the battlefield, our For Honor tips should help you out.
On the Saturday following For Honor’s launch, the Steam version peaked at around 45,000 individual users, whereas the entire PC player count measured around 83,000 total players, according to For Honor’s in-game tracker. According to these figures, roughly 54% of For Honor players are using Steam to run the game, while the remaining 46% are playing directly through uPlay.
While this is good news for Ubisoft as it means players may be coming round to using uPlay, there are a fair few reasons contributing to these high numbers. First off, most digital download sites sold game keys which worked directly via uPlay and they were significantly cheaper than buying the game through Steam. The GTX 1080 and 1070 hardware bundles which offered buyers a free copy of For Honor or Ghost Recon Wildlands were only redeemable through uPlay, rather than through Steam, so that’s another chunk of players playing direct via uPlay.
Moreover, the Steam version of For Honor requires players opening two separate clients: first Steam to launch For Honor which in turn launches uPlay to run the game. Unless you are truly dedicated to having your Steam library contain every single one of your games, it’s more convenient to play via Ubisoft’s client.
However, with the Steam version retailing at $60 and keys for the uPlay version being available for as low as $30-35, it’s a testament to brand loyalty that so many users bought the game via Steam, when you can grab For Honor cheaper via so many different retailers.
When players are forced to use uPlay to play the game anyway, there seems to be no logical reason you would buy it via Steam, when it is more expensive and requires extra faff to play. These player numbers will be subject to change as the overall price for For Honor drops, but the stats do outline how many players will miss out on getting a game on the cheap, if it means using a distribution platform they don’t like.