Steam DB shows 97 players currently active. 208 maximum in the last 24 hours. All time peak 1098. By contrast… TSW6 804/1753/2687 Even the much neglected TSC is doing better at 519/1057/3821. That doesn’t bode very well IMHO, particularly given the abstraction of resources to develop and support the new title. I do hope the game rallies but I do think DTG need to review where their efforts are directed going forward, including dusting off work on TSC.
Those games have a long standing user base and are probably less niche than WOS which only has little content for now, so the comparison may be a littlebit skewed. I wasn't aware WOS even existed a project or a game or until last week, I'm thinking they might not have reached all their potential players. Also doesn't help that on the surface you might see "some thomas game for kids" and not "Full 3D Island of sodor with 24h timetable etc.." which may appeal to a wider audience
We'll never know. I suspect the majority of purchases were by parents buying it for their kids consoles and for that we'll never see the figures. It's also very niche. One specific genre, where TSW has a general appeal across a broader, but still quite small audience. I doubt it's a flop, but as it's not aimed at me and I'm too old to be bothered about the TV series, I only remember the books, I don't care so much.
Consoles are an unknown quantity definitely, but the same could be said for TSW. As an amusing aside from this exercise, though, I confirmed 0 people are currently playing Flight Sim World!
RIP Flight sim world ✞ Jokes aside I think it's way too early to pass judgment. Let's give WOS some time to mature, the first patch isn't even out yet. Remember when sand patch grade first came out it only had the SD40, GP38 and AC4400, but the potential was there and almost 10 years later you can see the fanbase is still there. We'll see more clearly what they have planned if/when they release a roadmap for WOS. I won't judge until then, for now I am enjoying the game and think it has great potential. We'll see where they take it
How much DLC is there for TSW6 over years? There is zero for WOS yet. It really is like comparing this to 2017 TSW, when you just had "Heavy Haul"/SPG out. It's one route with a few locos. We know the majority of sales and playing of TSW are on console, so it's probably the same with WOS. If you compared JUST Sand Patch Grade numbers with TSW 6, would you get as many as Sodor? There's an exponential value in having lots of DLC bundled into one game that a single route in its own game does not. Once you finish all the timetables, lots of players (judging by TSW and other games) tend to move to something else until the new DLC comes along. TSW has been OVERLOADED with new content this month so that too is a bit unusual. The numbers for TSW 6 were less than half what they currently are back before the big rush of content started in February with GWE/Aachen releases. Give it time. I dunno about everyone else but I've been enjoying it. Haven't been binging though, I've been doing a little at a time to stretch it out.
I imagine a patch coming soonish is dependant on DTG sorting their QA backlog as well I'd imagine? It's in my wishlist for a sale at the moment. Not quite enough for me to pay full price from what I've seen
What things are you waiting for a patch on? Everything I've seen (except the controls issue in Free Roam) seems very minor if at all.
I've been thinking this game over so far in the context of the OP. And I do think that the trap with WOS was just however they launched the game it was going to feel a bit too lifeless and empty unless they did a very small section of Sodor and just focused on fleshing that out. Because at the moment to me from the content I've seen the timetable feels a little lifeless and there could be a bit more service variety. Another thread mentions wishing there were more characters about (not just the engines but notable vehicles/people). And I do think that is the trap with this game, how great it could be solely hangs on the release of future content. And if it flops that future may not come. For me that's the reason I haven't purchased it yet because I want to wait until we've heard a little bit more in terms of future content and the forward direction. Because I don't want another SOS/PFR dead end which has so much potential but is left as a blank canvas.
They’ve not released the switch version which will boost sales 464 gamers on true achievements have played it and using the data for players who have unlocked the tutorial achievement it’s at least 737 total on Xbox, for context TSW6 has roughly 2700 gamers on TA but that has been on gamepass and been out much longer
Things will pick up with the release of new characters, railways and new features/improvements. All sorts of checklists to tick, some nice possibilities I can see here. Player numbers will increase when we get to drive Toby with Henrietta through Norramby's seaside town.
I don't see how it's a "trap." It's a new game that starts with a base and builds from there. Just like most games.
I can see Wonders Of Sodor coming to gamepass too especially once a couple of DLC’s have been released… that’d significantly boost player numbers
Appreciate the responses. With a title like this, indeed the old cliche of chicken and egg does apply but I’m guessing the initial development budget didn’t stretch to more meat on the bones or putting in the NG Skarloey Railway etc. It will be interesting to if the numbers perk up the first time this gets discounted in a sale.
That’s because it’s basically a TSW route add on abstracted into its own version of the core game, rather than an all new concept that might have included proper first person gameplay in a wider world, or some sort of structured campaign and missions like a strategy game.
Genuine question, which bugs have you encountered? The game is working pretty well for me, I've only encountered one bug that was game breaking and that was percy's 00:29 timetable service which sends you flying when you spawn in. Shame QA didn't catch this one before release, I hope they fix it next patch. The rest was small bugs; signals at Ffarquhar not displaying aspects properly for the runaround track and when going to the quarry, and some small UI design problems. Little annoying but nothing affecting the functionality of the game. As for things to do, I'd argue it's more varied than any single Train sim world route, although admittedly I haven't played TSW in a long while. Still, you got goods trains, mail, locals, expresses, small branch trains, shunting all in the timetable and then some scenarios on top. You don't really have heavy goods trains yet other than James', but I don't think there will be much more than that in terms of gameplay, this is a train simulator after all. Maybe if they implement guard mode from TSW, maybe multiplayer or a signaller mode too it can add some gameplay elements, but I don't think that's coming anytime soon. What would you like to see implemented to improve things to do?
On PS5, might have been fixed now I don’t know, sometimes the camera would freeze and you couldn’t walk anywhere. Also got stuck on map a few times which is known about
Ah that sucks, maybe it's a console thing? Let's hope all of this gets fixed next patch... Still, these bugs should've been caught & fixed before release imo, especially if they are game-breaking.
The only real bugs I've had are the controls freeze up sometimes when you swap between exterior to interior views, but it usually "fixes" itself if you toggle again and wait, I think it might be something to do with lag? The other thing is that if you run enough services sometimes the map screen "freezes." They're not all the time, they said they're aware of them and working on fixes. Other than that I haven't noticed any other bugs. There's multiple engines, with lots of runs with some variety and lots of unique locations on a beautiful map. Even the first person perspective is better than most routes, with lots of detail to explore and the collectible "shop" in Knapford is a nice touch.
This game usually has less players than the random Roblox games. Probably costs too much and other people just would rather have a cheap or free version which is lower quality with textures and realism.
I wouldn't call it a flop just yet, but I do find it concerning. Dovetail does appear to be keen to engage with fans about future plans on with PR management. The team asserts the game is much bigger than expected, and right now, they are concentrating on the patch, physical copies, and releases on other consoles like on Switch. They'll only start working on DLC after these issues are sorted out, which is intriguing since I understand many of these bugs were inherited from the core of TSW and were never fixed initially. We'll eventually find out what the update includes along with the first DLC. I don't anticipate the patch to offer anything more than bug fixes, but they did mention QoL improvements, so I'm curious about what that entails. An AI feature for trains in free roam could improve quality of life, along with possibly adding some vehicles in the background. Many of us still can't add clouds or overcast, leading to rain under clear skies; I wonder if these problems will be tackled in the first patch, as its going to be vital for setting future expectations. Additionally, Dovetail has indicated the need to work with Mattel for approval, as they are pushing for the inclusion of the "childhood memories" characters, being fans themselves. Yet, Mattel appears to be more concerned with marketing and sales related to the new TV series. Makes sense as they're a business first, but I worry that they will favor newer engines like Nia and Rosie, potentially neglecting classic characters such as Edward, Henry, Toby, Duck, Oliver, etc. I hope I'm wrong, but as I said, the upcoming patch and first DLC will really impact how people choose to spend their money. Personally, I won't buy any engines made after the classic Thomas era. Also, game reviews suggest it's a bit too challenging for children. The audience is likely in their 20s to 30s, and I doubt many of us want to engage with the newer engines, preferring those we loved from earlier seasons. It seems Dovetail aligns with the fans on this, but Mattel remains in charge. They may attempt to be clever by incorporating them into a route, such as releasing Duck and Oliver's branch line as DLC, but it could come with… Rosie… instead of Duck and Oliver. Dovetail staff have confirmed that engines will require at least three months to develop, while routes will take six to twelve months, so if we don't receive any updates by fall, it doesn't look promising. The next few months are crucial!
No its a game. In all seriousness dunno. Define a flop. Game seems to have been set up as a sort of meme game to be honest. And I get the feeling that 90% game's scenery was asset reuse? Which is fine. I can totally see this being bought as a joke by people. The biggest problem I can see is that it hasn't got Henry and his sad stories. (did you know Henry was bricked up in a tunnel and died? youtubesoyjakface.jpg and then had a crash and died?) Second is the lack of meat on the bones. After the scenarios, shunting challenges, books, whistles and hats. There isn't much to do. Timetable mode sounds great until you see that its just Gordon, Emily and James doing main line runs, Thomas dicking about on his branch line, Percy and Diesel have some decent variety. But thats it. Like I said somewhere else though, lots of room for aggressive expansion though.
