Destiny 2 has been struggling since the release of “Forsaken”. The player count has been steadily declining, and interest in the loot shooter is waning. Now the shooter has reached a low that almost meant its end.
What low is being talked about? Those who were there for the release of the “Curse of Osiris” expansion might remember how bleak the situation was for the loot shooter at that time. There was hardly any playable content available, the campaign was a disaster, and everything regarding the grind felt trivial and unenjoyable.
According to a presentation at GDC (Source: YouTube), the shooter was facing a crisis. Player numbers dropped so low that Justin Truman, the studio head of Bungie, even stated that if the situation continued, the developers would be forced to shut down the servers in 5 weeks.
Now it seems that the catastrophe is occurring again because when looking at the remaining Guardians, it becomes clear that interest is dwindling and it can only get worse.
What happens next?
In fact, no one knows for sure, as Bungie remains silent. To illustrate the extent of the disinterest, we are using the site “popularity.report“. According to thegamepost.com, the site can track player counts across all platforms using the Bungie API and provide an overview of how many players are still actively playing Destiny 2.
Accordingly, during the “Curse of Osiris”, the player count was still over 350,000 at its lowest point. However, during “Forsaken”, this low point is currently at 145,000 players, and the trend is downward.
Why will the numbers continue to decline? “Ashes and Iron” is the name of the new season, but it barely made an impression. The content was poor, the power grind is still frustrating, and fans are silent out of disappointment regarding the Porta system.
Regarding upcoming content in the season, it also doesn’t look bright. There is nothing for fans to be excited about, and the events that Bungie keeps rehashing can only attract a few. It is only logical that fans are turning away from the once flagship loot shooter.
Will Bungie shut down the servers? That seems rather unlikely, as the studio still has Sony backing them. Moreover, according to a new announcement regarding Marathon, the developers are still working on their extraction shooter.
It is quite possible that the former Halo developers are dismissing the poor player numbers as a temporary drought until the new expansion “Renegades” launches. It remains to be seen whether Bungie will react to the current situation. You can find more about Destiny 2 here: The Vex gain sentience in Destiny 2 after 10 years, becoming stylish criminals immediately
