Destiny 2 Renegades is getting good early feedback from players, but new Steam data shows the expansion opened to the lowest day-one peak in the series’ history.
Destiny 2’s newest expansion, Renegades, is officially out. It sends players back to Mars, into a lawless frontier full of smugglers and crime syndicates, where they team up with the Drifter, Eris Morn, and Aunor Mahal to stop another extinction-level threat. It is also Destiny’s first full crossover expansion, with Bungie partnering with Lucasfilm to bring in Star Wars-inspired weapons, armor, and big cinematic moments, while still keeping the story rooted in Destiny’s own universe.
Many players say the campaign is pretty good. People are talking about louder set pieces, mission design, and especially the new Blaster weapons. After a rough year, Renegades already comes across as a course correction for Destiny 2.
But the bigger picture for Destiny 2 is still rough. The last expansion, The Edge of Fate, launched to a negative reception about grind, new currencies, and the Portal. Steam population then sank to record lows over the following months, and a lot of long-running players walked away.
Now the first numbers for Renegades are in, and on PC, it has not managed to match even Edge of Fate’s day one peak.
Destiny 2 Renegades Steam player count compared to past expansions
According to data from SteamDB, Renegades hit a day-one peak of 71,278 concurrent players on Steam. That is the lowest peak out of every major Destiny 2 expansion, season, episode, and paid drop. Edge of Fate, which already had a rough launch, managed 98,211 on day one. Even smaller drops like Episode Heresy and Episode Revenant landed higher, at 77,399 and 78,328.
If we compare Renegades to the big expansions, the drop-off looks even worse. Lightfall opened at 316,750, and The Final Shape hit 314,634 on day one. Renegades is sitting at around 23% of Lightfall’s day one peak and roughly 72% of Edge of Fate’s. That is a massive fall for a game that once pushed over 300k on Steam alone.
Here is how Renegades compares to past launches on Steam day one:
- Shadowkeep / Season of the Undying: 214,100
- Season of Dawn: 138,602
- Season of the Worthy: 115,465
- Season of Arrivals: 172,109
- Beyond Light / Season of the Hunt: 242,284
- Season of the Chosen: 132,255
- Season of the Splicer: 157,679
- Season of the Lost: 178,241
- 30th Anniversary Pack: 155,470
- The Witch Queen / Season of the Risen: 290,112
- Season of the Haunted: 180,392
- Season of Plunder: 193,209
- Season of the Seraph: 122,279
- Lightfall / Season of Defiance: 316,750
- Season of the Deep: 186,869
- Season of the Witch: 126,261
- Season of the Wish: 94,670
- The Final Shape / Episode Echoes: 314,634
- Episode Revenant: 78,328
- Episode Heresy: 77,399
- Edge of Fate: 98,211
- Renegades: 71,278
Of course, this is only one platform. Destiny 2 is also on PlayStation and Xbox, and those numbers are not public. But Steam is still a useful barometer for interest among the audience, and right now that chart is heading in one direction.
The ironic part is that Renegades itself seems better received than Edge of Fate so far. Players are praising the Star Wars-inspired story, the Praxic Blade “lightsaber” exotic, and a campaign that actually feels fun to replay rather than a chore.
One player on r/DestinyTheGame said, “Renegades campaign is just pure fun, and it feels good to have fun again. Having just finished up Renegades, I feel really confident in saying Renegades may just be the most fun I’ve ever had in a Destiny campaign.” Another said how the new guns and Star Wars-style aesthetic make it “so much better” than Edge of Fate.
Others are a bit more measured, even if they are still enjoying it. One user wrote, “I had fun with the campaign and DLC so far, but this feels more like a season. I finished the campaign and did a few quests here and there after and I can confidently say that this DLC is pretty much a season, a bigger-sized one at best, with only the first and the last missions being actual campaign missions.”
Looking ahead, Bungie has said it plans to share a multi-year roadmap and a new State of the Game update sometime next year to explain what comes after Renegades. On top of that, there are new rumors that a full Destiny 3 has entered early development at the studio, although nothing has been confirmed.
How do you feel about Renegades and these numbers? Are you back in and having fun, or still waiting on Bungie to prove that Destiny is worth your time again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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