It's Pretty Clear Why Mecha Break Has Lost Nearly 70% Of Players In 12 Days

In yet another turning of the free-to-play cycle, "Mecha Break" has lost almost 70% of its players in just under two weeks. It probably still has legs, but the massive wave of initial enthusiasm has broken due to some of the game's technical issues and monetization setup.

"Mecha Break" is just the second game from publisher-developer Amazing Seasun Games, and no matter how you slice it, that's incredibly impressive. The game has flaws, but its sense of visual style isn't one of them. "Mecha Break" looks incredible, and just viewing its array of giant guns, winged ships, and extravagant mech suits is bound to get you excited to play. The visuals and the promise of epic mechanized battle got plenty of people galvanized about the game, and "Mecha Break" peaked at over 130,000 players on Steam on its release day. For a moment, it was the most exciting mech gaming since "Armored Core 6" blew everyone away in 2023.

The graphics and the gameplay aren't the things holding "Mecha Break" back. Instead, the game is fighting against some vocally upset players and, worse than that, a mixed review average on Steam. The "mixed" label won't bring in many new players on PC, so Amazing Seasun Games has some challenges ahead. But there's still hope: "Marvel Rivals" lost 77% of its players, which shows that even popular games based on existing IP struggle to hold onto gamers for long. "Mecha Break" has plenty of time to lock in an audience.

One of the biggest issues currently facing "Mecha Break" is the game's performance on PC. Optimizing a game for PC players is notoriously difficult because there's a ridiculous amount of hardware combinations that people might be using to play. Developers do their best to streamline their game for as many systems as possible, but when devs like Rockstar need to delay "GTA 6" on PC, you know that indies like Amazing Seasun Games have their work cut out for them.

A quick scroll through some of the negative reviews pouring in on Steam reveals that many players are having issues running the game. There are the usual problems, like stuttering visuals and unmanageably high ping during online games, but "Mecha Break" has a unique issue that's upsetting a surprising amount of people: the game won't run on Linux. 

"Mecha Break" is set up to run on Linux-based Steam Decks, but the game's anti-cheat software prevents it from being run in desktop mode or on standard Linux machines. The devs have actually responded to negative reviews centered on the Linux problem, but as of right now, Amazing Seasun Games hasn't announced any plans to bring "Mecha Break" to other operating systems.

Free-to-play titles offer gamers a devil's bargain. They can start playing a new game on release date, but publishers have elaborate monetization systems that help them make money over time. It's a necessary evil in the genre, but the monetization in "Mecha Break" is causing some players to throw up their hands and walk away.

Negative reviews of "Mecha Break" frequently point to the game's pricey cosmetics. Several reviews on Steam call out $50 character skins and urge other players not to give Amazing Seasun Games a dime. It's true that "Mecha Break" has the typical cosmetic and battle pass systems that gamers have come to expect, though some of the prices are simply higher than players can stomach. On the bright side, all the monetization in "Mecha Break" is tied to cosmetics, and most of what you can purchase with real money can be earned with in-game currency.

Unfortunately, the problem isn't just that high prices are pushing some window shoppers to leave negative reviews. Fans of the game have done deep dives into the monetization flaws in "Mecha Break" and have laid out their major complaints online. Most of the complaints boil down to the game having a wildly unintuitive UI that makes engaging with any of the monetized systems a cumbersome chore. Amazing Seasun Games might not be able to drop its prices, but it should be able to come up with smoother systems for letting players spend money.

Complaints are bringing down the review score for "Mecha Break" on Steam, but not everyone taking the time to write about the game is upset by what they've played. More than 18,000 players have reviewed the game on Steam, and many of them found things to enjoy. We've already mentioned that the art style and graphics on display in "Mecha Break" are top notch, and that's something that players are calling out, too.

Of course, the most important puzzle piece for any new game is the gameplay itself. That just so happens to be the biggest redeeming feature in "Mecha Break." Players who are enjoying the game have called out its snappy controls and wealth of game modes, like a casual shooter matchmaking lobby, 6v6 teams, 3v3 teams, and an extraction shooter mode. 

Positive reviewers also point to the fact that spending money has no real effect on the gameplay, and they use other successful free-to-play shooters like "Warframe" as a point of reference. Complaints tend to be the loudest bits of information online, but judging by what fans of "Mecha Break" have to say, the game already has everything it needs to become a lasting success.

On July 9, IGN reviewed "Mecha Break" and gave it 8 out of 10 stars. Then the game debuted and well over 100,000 players showed up on its first day. Since then "Mecha Break" has lost almost 70% of its players on Steam, but what does that really mean for the game?

After the massive drop in active players, "Mecha Break" is still getting tens of thousands of gamers signing in on a daily basis. As a point of comparison, "Warframe" averages about 40,000 to 50,000 players a day, and that game is still considered a massive success. The numbers surrounding "Mecha Break" are eye-popping at first glance, but when you dig into it, the game seems like it's in a fine place. This is just the usual ebb and flow of free-to-play games. "Palworld" also lost 70% of its active players in 2024, and that game is doing just fine.

Another aspect of this story is that the numbers we have for "Mecha Break" aren't entirely accurate. The game debuted on Windows and Xbox systems, but the player count data comes directly from Steam. We don't have the data for Xbox gamers, so "Mecha Break" could have a secret army of players that no one knows about. Even assuming the Xbox numbers are following a similar trajectory as the Steam data, that means "Mecha Break" has twice the players people think it does.

Losing 70% of its players in under two weeks doesn't mean that "Mecha Break" is in danger of disappearing anytime soon. "Helldivers 2" lost a full 90% of its active players, and that game is still chugging along happily. The future for "Mecha Break" is actually looking fairly bright. The first major update is on the way, and fans are already getting hyped about it and pitching their wishlists for future features.

"Mecha Break" doesn't need a ridiculously massive playerbase to stay alive. Some of the initial negative reviews called out bots in matchmaking games, but "Mecha Break" fans are already making their peace with bots filling out some of the team rosters. That's especially good because bots can keep the game feeling active for years even with a small playerbase, which is something that Amazing Seasun Games should be good at managing.

The developer's first release, "Snowbreak: Containment Zone" doesn't have the same competitive matchmaking approach as "Mecha Break," but it is a free-to-play game that's managed to sustain itself for years. "Snowbreak" never reached the heights of "Mecha Break," and it averages fewer than 2,000 players a day. Despite that, Amazing Seasun Games still supports "Snowbreak" with regular updates and does its best to keep that small group of fans happy. If the devs keep supporting a game as small as "Snowbreak," then gamers can probably rest assured that "Mecha Break" will stick around for a long time.