I've got a couple friends that I used to play with who are just burnt out now. The slow trickle of guns and stratagems hasn't been enough to keep them interested.
The new warbond, which took up dev team time, is not impressive/has a draw to bring people back.
I think the release pace could have been fine if they could release without new bugs every patch, address the existing bugs, and stop squeezing fun out with the balancing they've done. As is getting a nerfed liberator and being told the final versions of the guns is coming isnt a draw.
Personally reading the balance guys thoughts on the game, its a wonder the game was fun at any point. I'm not sure his vision but things like not even realizing how people would use the eruptor for its aoe damage is confusing.
For me personally it's not Sony as much as how grindy the game feels. Requisition credits and most samples are just going to waste, xp is kinda meaningless so the only thing I'm getting are extremely small amounts of medals and SCs which just feels bad.
It's amazing how our brains are wired to a reward system. I've got a friend who stops playing when he's capped on rewards, but will then play again just when a new Warbond comes out for him to unlock stuff. He would do the same thing with other games like Overwatch - play a shit load at the beginning of each season, unlock all the cosmetics, then stop playing for a month.
It kind of drives me nuts, because while I enjoy unlocking new stuff, I also can play games just for the fun of playing games. But having an inconsistent friend who only plays when there are new rewards is frustrating. Stupid monkey brains.
Oh absolutely, it's a shame but long gone are the days of having access to like 3 games in total and having to play them all the time as a kid. Nowadays if there's isn't something new in the game every few months it just disappears from my mind - there's always something else, newer and better, to take that space instead, for better or for worse. I enjoy helldivers but after 80ish hours of repetitive missions, I need new toys to make it interesting.
As much as unlocking things and gathering things is enjoyable to me, I feel like the reward to me at least is having fun with friends... Which I can do even if every strat, ship upgrade, and warbond is completely unlocked, all currencies are maxed, and I'm at max level (I'm nowhere near any of that, mind you)
But, I guess everyone has their own way to enjoy the game
There needs to be a resource sink that has some planetary or mission effect.
Planets need to have differing stages of liberation and missions that change accordingly.
Finishing a campaign should have more of an effect than a progress bar. It should also feel like a campaign, not three unrelated missions that got lumped together.
Theres a ton of room in this game foe extra flavor, I hope they don't rest on their laurels.