This was originally just going to be a reply to someone on this thread. But I decided to turn it into an entire thread due to its size. Enjoy!
I have some theories as to the possible reasonings for Catch's popularity. Or more accurately, Catch's unpopularity.
This is all I could come up with right now. If you have any other possible theories, reply with them here so that I can add them to the original post (With credit of course). Catch being the least popular gamemode isn't all bad. Like for example, Catch players are closer as a community because of how small we are compared to Standard and such. Anyways, see you later!
I have some theories as to the possible reasonings for Catch's popularity. Or more accurately, Catch's unpopularity.
There are less catch maps being ranked than other gamemodes
According to this website given by the official Osu! wiki, there were a total of 351 catch beatmap sets ranked in 2022. That's a far cry from Standard which had 2873 beatmap sets ranked in 2022. Followed by Taiko with 1119 beatmap sets and Mania with 890 beatmap sets. Yes, Catch had under half of the beatmap sets ranked than the 2nd lowest did. Even if these stats were not true, you can tell from the beatmaps page that Catch maps aren't ranked as much as other gamemodes, especially Standard.
People don't consider Catch an actual rhythm game
This one was brought up in the forum mentioned before by Edgar_Figaro, so credit to him for this one. People don't consider Catch a rhythm game like the other gamemode because their logic is "In Standard, you click circles to a beat. In Taiko and Mania, you tap your keys to the beat. But in Catch, you just tap and hold keys to make a character move, so it isn't an actual rhythm game". As a result of this, to some people, pro Catch players aren't seen as impressive as pros of other gamemodes.
According to this website given by the official Osu! wiki, there were a total of 351 catch beatmap sets ranked in 2022. That's a far cry from Standard which had 2873 beatmap sets ranked in 2022. Followed by Taiko with 1119 beatmap sets and Mania with 890 beatmap sets. Yes, Catch had under half of the beatmap sets ranked than the 2nd lowest did. Even if these stats were not true, you can tell from the beatmaps page that Catch maps aren't ranked as much as other gamemodes, especially Standard.
People don't consider Catch an actual rhythm game
This one was brought up in the forum mentioned before by Edgar_Figaro, so credit to him for this one. People don't consider Catch a rhythm game like the other gamemode because their logic is "In Standard, you click circles to a beat. In Taiko and Mania, you tap your keys to the beat. But in Catch, you just tap and hold keys to make a character move, so it isn't an actual rhythm game". As a result of this, to some people, pro Catch players aren't seen as impressive as pros of other gamemodes.
This is all I could come up with right now. If you have any other possible theories, reply with them here so that I can add them to the original post (With credit of course). Catch being the least popular gamemode isn't all bad. Like for example, Catch players are closer as a community because of how small we are compared to Standard and such. Anyways, see you later!