Destiny 2 has never had so few players as in February 2024 on Steam. From the already low value in January 2024, it decreased by another 16.5%. This marked the lowest point since the Steam release in October 2019. Compared to the previous year, the loot shooter has lost 72.7% of its players. MeinMMO author Schuhmann investigates the reasons behind this.
This was the previously low point:
- Destiny 2 had its lowest player counts on Steam in November 2023. At that time, the game had an average of 33,486 players – but at least reached a peak of 94,423.
- In February 2024, the average player count on Steam was now 32,567.
- Worryingly: The peak of simultaneous active players was at 46,511, the lowest ever.
With such events, Destiny 2 cannot keep players engaged
Update rhythm completely collapses at Bungie
What is the reason? The explanation for the low point is obvious: Bungie has broken its expansion rhythm.
Originally, Activision Blizzard had planned for Destiny to receive two DLCs throughout the year and a major expansion in the fall of a year or even a new installment.
With Destiny 2, Bungie – without the help of Activision Blizzard – changed this pace in 2018 to “One major expansion per year”. Paid seasons were to be released accordingly:
- In 2019 and 2020, the “major expansions” were still released in the fall.
- However, the Witch Queen was released in February 2022 – supposedly to avoid the strong shooter releases in the fall of a year, such as Battlefield or Call of Duty.
- The qualitatively weak expansion Destiny 2: Lightfall was released in February 2023.
But even this pace could not be maintained with “The Final Shape” and the expansion had to be postponed from February 2024 to June 2024. There were layoffs at Bungie.
Content drought for a game that constantly needs replenishment
This is the problem: This four-month delay in the schedule has now led to a noticeable content drought, and this for a game that was actually designed to receive new content every 4 months, and with the new season model already appeared to stretch Bungie’s content.
Now, when Destiny 2 should actually experience a resurgence with the new DLC, there has instead been a significant drop in player numbers.
Compared to March 2023, Destiny 2 has currently lost 73% of its players on average. This means metaphorically: Of 4 people who played Destiny 2 a year ago, only one is still playing today.
No wonder that Sony is also dissatisfied with Bungie, like before with Activision Blizzard, and how they run their business.
This is the bitter part: The last two major upheavals at Destiny developer Bungie were always associated with the promise that the situation of Destiny 2 would improve:
- When Activision Blizzard exited in 2019, Bungie held a major stream and spread a sense of optimism.
- When Sony bought Bungie in 2022, they promised more resources and staff.
However, both developments had negative effects on Destiny 2 in retrospect. One can now fear that Bungie only wants to somehow finish “Destiny” and is already focusing on its new games like Marathon.
The time until the release of “The Final Shape” the team wants to bridge with events:
