Since 2017, Destiny 2 has experienced a rollercoaster of opinions and speculation. While the loot shooter has a loyal fanbase, rumors and claims about the alleged impending downfall continue to circulate. However, instead of the game, the Guardians are more annoyed by the constant doomsday scenarios. Player numbers contradict these claims.
Destiny 2 is said to be dead: Since the “Lightfall” expansion couldn’t deliver what was expected from a grand beginning of the end in early 2023, parts of the player base have entered a death spiral, predicting the game’s downfall once again.
A quick look at the part of the community that publicly and loudly expresses its opinions about the game suffices.
- There, one learns that nobody plays this game anymore, and that one should finally break free.
- At the latest, with the launch of “The Final Shape”, the upcoming DLC, the game will have no players anyway, because already in its small clan bubble, nobody plays anymore.
While the annoyance and bad mood are certainly understandable. Destiny 2 currently has significant problems that players justifiably criticize.
- The gameplay loop has become boring for some because the storytelling repeats itself, with essentially the same principle and a different story every three months.
- The neglect of known core PvE activities or the Crucible and Gambit.
- Additionally, there is the cost criticism regarding the prices of the DLCs and the extra charges for dungeons.
Nevertheless, despite recurring doomsday predictions, Destiny 2 continues to enjoy a stable and engaged player community. The claims of an impending end are far from reality because player numbers clearly show that Bungie’s loot shooter is by no means dying.
Destiny 2 is by no means on the brink of collapse
Player numbers remain solid: Destiny 2 is now 6 years old. The Destiny franchise is almost 10 years old, and although not everything is going smoothly at the moment, Bungie can still present strong numbers for its loot shooter. Lightfall, which received significant criticism for its content, was even the strongest DLC at launch.
- During the launch week in February 2023, over 316,000 players alone played the new “Lightfall” DLC on Steam, which was a new all-time record for Bungie.
- In the following month, March, Bungie was able to record the highest average player count on Steam since the release of Destiny 2 in October 2019.
- In the last 30 days, just before the midseason update, Destiny 2 still had an average player count of 54,000 on Steam and a peak of 87,000.
This only refers to the verifiable player numbers on Steam. Specific figures for consoles cannot be confirmed as they are not available. But it is unlikely that these will be significantly different.
Certainly not record numbers that the game is currently experiencing, but still solid, considering how relaxed this Season 21 is and that many players wanted to participate in Diablo 4 as well.
However, a small indication of the overall numbers could be provided by the Bot Charlemagne. One can retrieve current player population data via Discord with the query “/analytics population” for all platforms.
As of the time of this article, on July 12, the bot provided us with the following result:
- Total players across all platforms: 698,400
Unfortunately, these figures cannot be confirmed by the individual provider platforms as they can on Steam.
Why are player numbers important at all? No matter how big and serious the problems may be right now, a mass exodus of players, as many currently claim, simply does not reflect in these player numbers. They also do not paint a catastrophic picture of the game’s state.
If it were otherwise, Bungie would likely have already reacted. However, Destiny 2 is much larger than its community on Reddit, YouTube, or Twitter. Most players are not interested in the criticism from the active community, or they are completely unaware of it because they are not active in the community.
Most players simply keep playing
This is what the community says: On Reddit, some Guardians have even made fun of the constant death talk and updated an old meme that has received 3,600 upvotes.
They emphasized that while the game has some problems, it is by no means on the brink of collapse, as some people repeatedly claim. The passion for the game is still present, and many still enjoy weekly activities.
While some let themselves be swept away by the negativity wave and are just annoyed by all the criticism, others, like the Guardian havestronaut, simply continue playing.
Yes… to be honest, I have a lot of good games to play this year. I don’t tend to get frustrated about everything, so I just play the Destiny story updates, enjoy a bit more of what is fun, and then I relax. […] I think the expectation that something should always and endlessly be consumable is probably a mistake. […]
comments havestronaut under the Reddit meme
Similarly relaxed is OffMyChestATM, who writes: „[…] In my opinion, it is a great gaming year. And there is a lot to enjoy, especially when your favorite game has a mediocre moment.”
And the Destiny player Nick_Sonic_360 notes that the loot shooter is currently just “going through another evolution”.
Destiny is experiencing growing pains; I love it at the moment, the Season of Depth is great, and I’m grinding through the seasonal challenges, so I have no problems. […] And honestly, that is a requirement at this stage of the game’s life. “The Final Shape” will be an epic conclusion to the Light and Darkness saga, but [Bungie] must continue to add content for it to live on. […] I love this game and want it to continue after “Lightfall”, to have new adventures and worlds to explore, for the roots of this game to return.
exclaims Nick_Sonic_360 in the Reddit
Destiny players love toxic discussions: Over the years, not everything has been perfect in Destiny, and it is still not perfect today.
People love Bungie’s ideas but often hate how poorly they are implemented. This is why it has become a traditional player custom to complain terribly about Bungie and its ideas. Or, as player itsRobbie puts it: “Just panic-mongering for views, because the Destiny community loves negativity”.
Bungie will work on the issues: The developer of Destiny recently announced that server stability is set to improve by August 2023.
Additionally, there will be continuous adjustments to the meta, as well as upcoming new features in seasons and DLCs. And this is precisely why players keep returning and giving the developer studio another chance.
The player numbers and the vibrant community thus contradict the claims about the impending end of Destiny 2 and show that the game still has a strong presence in the gaming world. Because only when no one talks about a game anymore is it truly dead.
What do you think? Are you annoyed by the constant declarations of death for Destiny, as you just want to do your thing and have some fun in the game? Or do you say: No, fate is indeed worse off now than ever, even if the player numbers are solid? We are certainly curious about your opinions in the comments.
Perhaps the player mikeyt0503 puts it best: “We love to be haters. It’s really that simple. We love to hate Destiny 2, and we hate that we love it.”
