Single player games rarely need or demand "continued support" and player numbers aren't indicative of that

Sure maybe if the gaming industry didn't constantly release buggy broken messes. But alas that's not the world we live in and is very much a metric I care about to know whether or not a game is going to become abandonware or at least have community support if the developer won't. These metrics allow that community or developer to understand if there is a player base which would benefit or a market to keep selling to. So yes they add value for players.

Single player player numbers aren't indicative about things getting a sequel, low player count games get sequels, high player count games don't get sequels. It has no direct bearing.

They very much are if the game is single player based. Acting as if demand is not a reason for games to get sequels or the budgets which come from player sales is not relevant is completely naive. Yes companies can run into financial hardships, get acquired and all manner of other circumstances that can lead to development being stopped whether there was an active player base or not. That's not what these metrics represent and can give you an idea of what ip might get cut if a studio is acquired. They are useful and helpful, and I like to see those counts for my own understanding.

If you want to check if there are guides you can just Google it, it's a lot more useful to just Google it. Then you'll actually know instead of guessing.

Sure that used to work before SEO has killed search results, it's quicker to check a player count on steam then to wade through garbage ai generated articles to find out if there is an active community following the game. It's not a guess either if there are many people playing then there will be demand for content on YouTube or other platforms which means I can find guides.

Knowing single player, player counts is really just for vague curiosity. There's no real use to it.

The only reason to hide it is to trick users to get abandon ware games or obscure how bad a game is doing. Keeping those stats up gives you valuable information, as I have pointed out. You are arguing in bad faith here and I honestly don't know why unless you have some gatcha game on steam that you want to hide player stats on to hopefully drive some sales which is disingenuous.

I own one share of Activision! I demand satisfaction!

Sure. Unless the company plans to release mod tools, expansions, etc.

Generally speaking, for all games OTHER than Bethesda games I'd agree with the statement, but come on, how are they going to sell us starfield playing on a smart toaster if nobody is still playing it a few months after launch?

Investors may well be interested in how well sequels are going to do. They may well take high player numbers as positive sentiment that is indicative that even new, unrelated titles will sell well.