Marathon playtest player count on Steam drops by over 50% a day after launch

Bungie’s latest venture is certainly generating significant buzz.

Leading up to the official launch of Marathon, the developers initiated a playtest phase. While Bungie’s extraction shooter successfully piqued the curiosity of the gaming community, initial data suggests that maintaining a steady player base might prove challenging.

During the Marathon playtest, concurrent player counts peaked at an impressive 143,000. However, interest appeared to wane quickly, with the active user count dropping by more than 50% to approximately 74,900.

For a bit of perspective, the October playtest for Arc Raiders showed a different trend. While that title also saw a decrease in engagement over time, the decline was notably more gradual.

On Friday, October 17, Arc Raiders hit a peak of 189,000 players, followed by 185,000 on October 18, and 148,000 on the 19th.