Foamstars’ free re-launch sees 97% less players than PS Plus debut Foamstars' free-to-play PS5 player count boost raised the shooter's audience by 48%, but those numbers can't compare to the game's initial PS Plus launch.Lee Brady Published 10 Oct 2024 FollowtopicsFOAMSTARSSquare EnixPlayStation 5Lee Brady In case you weren't aware, those Foamstars trophies are now free to unlock on PS5 and PS4! As a result, Foamstars' free-to-play PS5 player count has nearly doubled as fans of free PS5 games try the shooter out. However, the Square Enix game's growing audience still has a long way to go before it can match the game's initial PS Plus launch numbers.Foamstars' free-to-play launch brings in roughly 48% more playersFoamstars initially launched as a day-one PS Plus Essential game in February 2024Within two months, the live-service PS5 and PS4 game had lost 95% of its initial player baseAfter going free-to-play, Foamstars' player count has grown by over 48% — still a fraction of the player base it used to haveEight months after Sony and Square Enix teamed up to give the game away to PS Plus Essential subscribers, Foamstars has gone free on PS5 and PS4 as of Friday, October 4, 2024. That means you no longer need to purchase the game to play it, and you also don't need a PS Plus subscription to play it online.In response, Foamstars' PS5 and PS4 player count has grown by at least 48.2% in a single week (data from week ending Sunday, October 6, 2024). In fact, the game has almost certainly gained more than 48.2% more players last week, that's just the minimum amount of growth we can confirm.Our exclusive data from over 3.1 million active PSN accounts (courtesy of GameInsights, which draws from sources beyond TrueTrophies) is limited to the top 500 most-played PS5 and PS4 games each week. Foamstars sat at #729 place the week before it went free-to-play, so we've based that 48.2% player count boost on the data from the game listed in the #500 spot.It's likely that Foamstars' player count has at least doubled after going free-to-play — the game jumped from #729 on our PlayStation Chart right up to the #374 spot. That means Square Enix can boast about Foamstars having more players than older PS4 titles like Team Sonic Racing, Tomb Raider Definitive Edition, and Rock Band 4 — although it probably shouldn't.Top PS Plus Essential games of 2024 so far#1 — EA Sports FC 24 (May 2024)#2 — Harry Potter Quidditch Champions (September 24)#3 — Sifu (March 2024)#4 — WWE 2K24 (October 2024)#5 — Dead Space (October 2024)#6 — Evil West (January 2024)#7 — Foamstars (February 2024) #8 — LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga (August 2024)#9 — Among Us (July 2024)#10 — Tunic (May 2024)While Foamstars' initial debut as a PS Plus day-one game back in February 2024 was strong enough to land the game a lasting place in the top 10 PS Plus Essential games of 2024, it was a fleeting high for the live-service shooter. Foamstars' PS Plus player count had dropped 95% by April 2024 and kept dropping week-on-week despite regular content updates.Even after going free-to-play, Foamstars' player count still falls 97.7% short of its initial day-one PS Plus debut. While the game could still see its audience grow on PS5 and PS4, it would be a herculean task for Square Enix. Most free-to-play games reach their peak player count at launch and use that to stay afloat while awaiting new content. Unfortunately, Foamstars' already hit its peak eight months ago, so it would be quite the climb.Saying that, it would be great to see Foamstars stick around — it is a genuinely fun game. With some work, it could easily join the best PS5 multiplayer games list someday. It just needs time, and that's a resource live-service games tend to lack. Have you been playing Foamstars since the game went free-to-play? Let us know down in the comments below!Chart compiled using gameplay data from over 3.1 million active PlayStation accounts (not just TrueTrophies accounts). Chart information is copyright GameInsights. Regarding this data:Our 3.1 million sample of 116 million projected MAUs on PSN has a ±0.09% margin of error with a 99.9% confidence interval.When an account opens a game, this is registered as a game being played. Accounts can only register a game once per week.Our data is good for suggesting general trends — we represent this using percentages, not numbers.More FOAMSTARS stories: Amazon’s big PS5 free-to-play launch is only the 6th-biggest this year PS Plus' biggest live-service failure Foamstars goes free-to-play PS Plus day-one game's latest PS5 update can’t prevent certain death PS Plus game Foamstars has lost nearly 95% of its player base Foamstars gets DLC trophy in face of diminishing PS5 audience PlayStation 5 Written by Lee BradyNews Editor Lee covers the latest upcoming PS5 games like Ghost of Yotei while making sure PlayStation Plus’ classic PS1 and PS2 games are given enough respect. Lee leads the charge on our original data analysis courtesy of GameInsights. His 25 years of PlayStation experience compliments his love of Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Sonic the Hedgehog.