At this point, it’s no secret that Enplex Games’ multiplayer survival sandbox Population Zero had a rough start. The title stumbled out of the gate with technical issues and DLC pricing confusion, but continued making several updates and a development roadmap even in the face of dwindling numbers.
So just what happened? In a piece written by Enplex Games’ publishing producer and video content producer Dimitry Muratov, there were three primary problems: the DLC pricing mistake that immediately soured player perception, an overly aggressive marketing campaign for an unfinished and bug-filled game, and a lack of expected and basic MMO features like the ability to easily play with Steam friends.
“On May 5, we pushed the ‘Release into Early Access’ button, and from that moment all hell broke loose. The first reviews of the game that came in an hour or two after we launched were devastating. We were thinking we’d be in the Mixed category, though some of us dreamt of Mostly Positive, but Overwhelmingly Negative reviews were pouring in — by the time we were at 100 reviews, our rating was at 11%. In about an hour, Steam’s algorithm kicked us out of featured games, and in five to ten hours we were out of the picture entirely.
“We are yet to see if our game dies or makes it through a very rough launch, and that’s why we want this article to be a digital diary of what’s happening to us.”
With all of this said, Muratov remarks that the game has found its community niche with positive reviews being written currently. He also nods to the fact that concurrency numbers are low, but bookends that by mentioning the game was made to be a single-player experience if players wished it to be and promises the devs will continue to be communicative to Population Zero’s fanbase.
