To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Ghost Recon franchise, Ubisoft blindsided tactical shooter fans with a massive content update for Ghost Recon Wildlands. Titled “Last Rites,” the patch introduces a brand-new campaign mission, long-awaited current-gen console performance upgrades, and the return of the iconic Predator crossover, a fan-favorite mission that had been delisted since 2020 due to licensing constraints.
A Record-Breaking Discount Meets New Content
The combination of fresh content and an unprecedented price cut triggered an immediate revival for the 2017 title. Over the last four years, Wildlands maintained a modest but steady PC audience on Steam, with average concurrent player counts hovering between 1,000 and 2,500. While the game previously dropped as low as $7.49 during major digital sales, Ubisoft blew past that baseline for the 25th anniversary by dropping the price to an all-time low of $2.49, three times cheaper than its previous historic minimum.
Unprecedented Player Growth
This ultra-budget entry point, combined with major headline updates, sparked a large surge in player activity. Over the past week, Wildlands went from a 7-day baseline average of 1,663 players to a peak high of 26,759 concurrent players on August 9th. That represents a staggering 1,509% increase, effectively expanding the game’s concurrent active player base by more than 15 times.
Steam has not recorded numbers this high for Wildlands since April 2018, a milestone month that featured both a free-to-play weekend and the launch of Special Operation 1.
What makes this comeback even more notable is its daily momentum. The rally began on the day of the announcement when player counts spiked to 6,807, before climbing to 24,934 mid-week, and ultimately topping out at the peak high of 26,759 concurrent players today.
Franchise Search Interest Soars
The renewed interest isn’t limited to Steam server counts. According to Google Trends, search volume for the phrase “Ghost Recon” jumped to seven times its typical baseline following the announcement, while YouTube search interest experienced a parallel 6x surge according to google trends. Content creators have played a massive role in fueling this momentum, with high-profile creators like jackfrags covering the update and thrusting the classic tactical shooter back into the mainstream.
