In September 2024 the player numbers for Destiny 2 disastrous on Steam. With an average of 32,549 players, the online shooter had lost a whopping 4 out of 5 players compared to June 2024. The expansion The Final Shape, which was released in June, was enthusiastically discussed and rated. With the start of the new episode Revenant, Bungie can cushion the decline – but the new numbers aren’t great.
How bad were Destiny 2’s player numbers in September?
In September, Destiny 2 averaged just 25,233 players on Steam, which was another 30% drop compared to the previous month.
From February 2024 to June 2024, Destiny 2 gained players for four months in a row, reaching 123,023 players in June 2024, the highest level since March 2023, but the drop after that was dramatic.
By September, 80% of the players who came back in June with The Final Shape (released June 4) had left.
The new episode Revenant (release October 8, 2024) can now only cushion the downward trend somewhat: the number of players is currently around 50,000.
Bungie shows the future of Destiny 2 after The Final Shape in the new trailer
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Expansion received 90% but was seen as the end point for Destiny 2
What were the reasons for the sharp decline in players? While The Final Shape was positively received as an expansion and received rave reviews with 89% on Metacritic (PC, Xbox – even 90% for PS5), it also marked a clear end point for Destiny.
Many felt as if the game with The Final Shape had reached its end after 10 years, especially as rumors grew that a new Destiny game, Destiny Rising, would soon be released. The extremely negative news about Bungie in recent months may also have contributed to the feeling that Destiny is over.
The switch from fixed, annual expansions to the new episodic model also sends a signal that Destiny has reached a new phase of its life and is no longer being developed as actively as in previous years.
In addition, “The Final Shape” seems to have failed to bind players to the game in the long term.
This is what lies behind it: Calling a DLC “The Final Something” and making it clear in all communication that it’s a conclusion generally gives players the feeling of “It’s over now.”
That may have been Bungie’s plan in some cases when they still had dozens of projects in the pipeline. At the moment, however, they are apparently still relying entirely on Destiny as a franchise, especially since the new game “Marathon” has already received a lot of criticism.
Perhaps people in Seattle now regret how “The Final Shape” was communicated. If the DLC was intended to be a worthy conclusion to the saga of light and shadow, it has probably succeeded. But in the eyes of many players, it also marked a clear end to the shooter. It will be difficult for Bungie to convince them that things will continue: Destiny 2: 7 Exos, which you should use in Episode: Revenant