Destiny 2's new update breaks a two-year player peak

Destiny 2's latest update has attracted roughly twice the number of concurrent players on Steam that Marathon managed at launch, creating an awkward contrast for Bungie as it shifts resources away from the beloved looter.

For Destiny 2's Monument of Triumph update, players reached over 160,000 concurrent players on Steam alone, while Marathon barely topped 80,000. But Destiny 2's last major update has come to a bittersweet reception from fans. Feedback has been largely positive, with many fans calling it a “return to form” for the game, and that “this is what Destiny 2 should have been.” But it comes with the news that Bungie is ending the service for the game.

Destiny Versus Marathon

Destiny 2 character in red armor with a gun.

Bungie's new project didn't go according to plan

Marathon was Bungie's next big project, but it faltered from the start with a lukewarm reception from players despite positive reviews from critics. It came at an odd time, on the tailwind of the success of Arc Raiders, and has yet to pull in the kind of big numbers that I expect Bungie (and Sony) had planned for.

By comparison, Destiny 2 has been in live service for nearly a decade at this point, yet continues to draw in a steady player base of around 20,000 daily concurrents on Steam and has hit a huge two-year peak with the Triumph monument. Many gamers may have seen Marathon as the future of the studio, but Destiny is still out there pulling in huge numbers. This demand for more Destiny boiled over at the Xbox showcase a couple of days ago, just to give you an idea of how passionate Destiny fans still are.

The numbers

And the numbers don't lie. According to SteamDB, which does not take console players into account, Marathon peaked at 88,337 players at launch. The launch of Monument of Triumph peaked at 167,867 players. That's a difference of about 90 percent. Obviously, these are games in different genres and with different business models, but it's still quite a difference – especially if you're a Bungie executive now wondering what the studio is going to do next.

Goodbye Destiny 2

Destiny 2 characters holding weapons with aliens and villains towering over them.

A brief history lesson, or why this player count is so good

The number of players for Monument of Triumph is so impressive because Destiny 2 launched in 2017, survived the rough launch of its first expansion, Curse of Osiris, and then rebounded with Forsaken. After updates like Beyond Light, Witch Queen, and The Final Shape, players stuck around. Nearly a decade later, audiences are still as devoted as ever.

Of course, Destiny 2's player numbers always peak with a new expansion, but this one feels a little different. Many veterans have returned to the game, at least according to threads on reddit, to say goodbye to the game they have known and loved for many years. The update has also received a lot of positive reception from fans, which could mean we see a bigger peak over the weekend.

The Monument of Triumph update feels like a goodbye to the players from the developers. Across reddit and social media, many fans have been quite emotional as they say goodbye to a game that has taken up nearly a decade of their lives.