Despite Bungie ending content updates for Destiny 2 earlier this year, the 2017 live-service title continues to maintain a significantly larger active player base on Steam than the studio's newer extraction shooter, Marathon. Current Steam statistics show Destiny 2 holding 34,735 active concurrent players compared to just 3,671 for Marathon. This gives the older free-to-play title nearly ten times the active concurrent user count of the premium release, sparking questions among fans about Bungie's long-term content strategy.

The contrast extends to all-time peak metrics on the platform as well. Destiny 2 reached an all-time peak of over 316,000 concurrent players during its multi-year run of major expansion updates. By comparison, Marathon peaked at a little over 88,000 active players following its debut. While Destiny 2 benefited from years of aggressive post-launch support and regular content additions, its overall player numbers had gradually dwindled prior to the surprise announcement that updates would end without a third main entry in sight.

Despite Destiny 2's development coming to a halt, Bungie has focused its internal efforts on expanding Marathon. The developer has additional updates and expansions planned for the coming months in hopes of turning the struggling extraction shooter around. However, platform availability and business models play a role in these figures. Destiny 2 operates as a free-to-play game available across PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Marathon, on the other hand, is a premium paid release available only on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Furthermore, industry estimates suggest Marathon performed worse on consoles than on PC, painting a challenging picture across all systems.

Building a new community for Marathon presents an uphill battle. While the title shares its name with an older Bungie property, the shift to the extraction shooter genre effectively treats it as a fresh franchise. Destiny enjoyed over a decade of continuous world-building since the original game debuted in 2014, establishing deep player loyalty. As PlayStation continues to navigate its $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie, it remains to be seen whether upcoming updates will successfully grow Marathon's audience or if the studio will eventually pivot back to the Destiny universe.