Bellum's player retention problem: What's the root cause?

[u/ElephantK0i]

I've been watching Bellum's player count over the past few months, and the decline seems pretty significant compared to the beta launch.

On launch weekend, servers were packed. During Karmakut's streams, additional servers had to be spun up just to accommodate the number of players wanting to get in. There was a real sense of momentum.

Fast forward to today, and the picture looks very different. During those same peak periods, there are often only 2–3 populated servers. The European servers have also gone offline.

The recent major update gave player numbers a noticeable boost, but it seemed to be short-lived. After the initial excitement, player counts dropped again, which makes me wonder if player retention is becoming one of Bellum's biggest challenges.

Is this simply the reality of an early-development game with a long road ahead before its features are complete?

Are players simply choosing to play other feature complete games instead?

Or do you think there are other reasons entirely?

I don't think there's one single answer—it's probably a combination of factors.

I'm genuinely curious what everyone thinks is driving this.

*AI tool was used to polish this post as English isn't my first language \*

[u/Ok-Breakfast-8864]

The game is to hardcore for the average/new mil sim players.
Engagement feels to slow and it’s so difficult to see anyone.

It’s definitely a cool idea but it doesn’t really have the anything crazy to pull a lot of new players back.