Through an action by Google Stadia, you can currently get Destiny 2 with all DLCs and content for free. But has the action really attracted new players? And could these players stay long-term?
What is special about Destiny 2 and Stadia? The shooter was one of the launch titles that Stadia was promoted with. It was supposed to attract players to the platform, allowing them to play Destiny 2 directly on their TV or smartphone without having to buy expensive hardware.
At the same time, Bungie was likely hoping for a small player boost for Destiny 2. At launch, the shooter had around 10,000 players on Stadia, peaking at 19,400 players on November 26.
But just 7 weeks after the release, things looked different. Destiny 2 reached only 8,000 players on January 2, with a declining trend. As there is no crossplay, there were times when players were missing to experience activities and PvP in the shooter.
But how does it look today, where Destiny 2 is playable for free with all DLCs?
Free Stadia Pro account benefits Destiny 2
What has changed now? Currently, all players who register for free on Google Stadia receive a “Pro account” for 2 months. This includes a total of 7 otherwise paid games, including the complete collection of Destiny 2.
This free action has been beneficial for the game. Already on day 2 of the action, on April 9, the numbers jumped to over 30,000 active players, as documented by the analysis website Charlemagne. The numbers on the site may not be 100% accurate, but they provide a good overview and trend.
The colleagues from 9to5Google have compiled the numbers from the last 30 days from Charlemagne in a clear graphic:
What is remarkable about the graph? After a brief peak, where many users likely wanted to test Stadia for free, the numbers for Destiny 2 noticeably decreased.
However, the shooter has been able to maintain between 17,000 and 20,000 players in the last few days. This is an improvement compared to the release period of Stadia and a significant distance from the end of March.
Matchmaking is still a problem
What do players say? In the subreddit, there were several threads where players were looking for others for a round of Destiny 2 on Stadia. The player numbers apparently are still not high enough to experience all activities in-game.
Even PvP is not well-received on reddit. The user hiroller18 criticized players in the Survival mode, where he claims to have only encountered very weak opponents and left the game with a Kills/Deaths (KD) statistic of up to 11.
Although Destiny 2 currently has a good player count on Stadia, only a few percent are actually playing in PvP:
It remains questionable whether Destiny 2 can build a permanent and large community on Stadia. However, the problem is not only with Stadia.
Destiny 2 also currently has an overall poor standing. As an analysis shows, the sentiment in the shooter is currently at its lowest point in years.
