Marathon‘s Steam player count hit a new record low, leaving Bungie‘s shooter just 68 players above Concord‘s infamous 697-player all-time peak on Steam.
Marathon’s Steam population has set another low, dropping to 765 concurrent players earlier today during off-peak hours, after touching 778 a day earlier. SteamPeaks.com, a third-party tracking site, now lists a September average of 1,892 players, down 33.1% from August’s 2,827, while the month’s peak remains 3,239.
Concord never reached four figures on Steam. Steam records Firewalk Studios’ shooter at an all-time peak of 697 concurrent players on August 23, 2024. Sony stopped sales September 3 and took the game offline three days later.
Marathon is now close enough that the Concord comparison no longer feels exaggerated.
Marathon Is Now Just 68 Players Above Concord’s All-Time Steam Peak
SteamPeaks’ chart recorded Marathon at 765 concurrent players during off-peak hours today. That leaves Bungie’s shooter only 68 players above Concord’s entire Steam ceiling, or about 9.8%. Another 69-player drop from today’s low would put Marathon below the highest number Concord ever managed on Valve’s platform.
Marathon recovered to 781 players by SteamPeaks’ latest refresh, so 765 was a trough rather than the current count. The site lists a 2,668 24-hour peak and a 1,892 30-day average. The daily peak has also fallen four straight days, from 3,239 on September 7 to 2,668 on September 10, a 17.6% decline. Against SteamPeaks’ listed 77,358 all-time peak, the 765 player count is down about 99.01%.
Putting Marathon next to Concord in March was cheap. Marathon launched with tens of thousands of Steam players, whereas Concord’s 697 was its ceiling. Six months later, approaching that ceiling from above tells a much sharper story about retention.
Bungie gets its next major test on September 22, when Season 3 begins. The studio says the update brings “big changes to the early game experience,” including a Perimeter revamp with major new areas and encounters, a new Runner shell, weapons, and a full PvE mode.
Sony cut a significant number of Bungie jobs on June 25, including most of the Destiny team and some Marathon developers. Destiny 2 had released its final planned live-service content update, Monument of Triumph, on June 9. Sony said Marathon remains an important part of its portfolio while Bungie is incubating future projects.
For now, though, all eyes are on Marathon’s Season 3 launch, and for how things are looking, this upcoming update might decide the future of the game.
In other news, Bungie’s 210,984 square feet Bellevue headquarters is being marketed for sublease through September 2035. Bungie confirmed it is exploring subleasing options to The Game Post under its digital-first working model and said it will retain an office presence in Bellevue.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Marathon has a chance to make a proper comeback and attract a wider playerbase with its upcoming PvE mode? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
