Naraka: Bladepoint is an incredibly fast-paced melee battle royale that launched in 2021. Despite its stunning graphics and few technical issues, it’s only now, three years later, it’s seeing a steady surge of close to 400,000 daily players.
According to Steam Charts, the Steam player stat website, Naraka: Bladepoint only had 39,403 average players and 133,315 players during its peak in June 2023. But in July 2023, things drastically changed. The title quickly saw a significant increase in average players from under 40,000 to 78,770, and 264,406 players during its 24-hour peak. And now, in March and April 2024, the battle royale has surged again.
While the player count has dipped a little here and there since the title first went live, it’s steadily increased over the past 10 months. So, what caused this whopping jump in the first place? Well, between the June and July 2023 updates for Naraka: Bladepoint, several major features were added, including:
- Zai (a new hero).
- Map updates.
- Spirit Wells which offer good item upgrades.
- Multiple hero and weapon adjustments.
- Store updates.
- Festivals and events.
- New content, including a Faction-based combat mode.
- New lobby: Fairyland Penglai.
Now, it’s likely these new features were enough to draw new players in. But, the more likely reason there was such a boom in players in July 2023 is that on July 13, 2023, Naraka: Bladepoint became free to play, which is a big selling point.
As soon as it became free to play, even on Steam, it became another popular free-to-play battle royale like Apex Legends and PUBG: Battlegrounds and players have stated it’s the “most polished competitive game out there.” Naraka: Bladepoint may be some player’s “favorite game,” but the general consensus from the community is that it’s not so popular because it has an extreme learning curve, matchmaking can be challenging, and winning is next to impossible.
While it may take some time before it can establish itself and reach the heights of Apex or PUBG, and players have admitted it can be “unforgiving,” it’s steadily heading that way as more players try the melee battle royale.
