After Bungie’s unforeseen cut to its workforce and onslaught of community whiplash for the decision, one of its biggest games has come out of this limping. Over the last 30 days, Destiny 2 has averaged 34,328 and a peak of 59,076 on Steam, an all-time new low player count.
According to its insights into the Steam Charts, Forbes discovered this low player count for the PC version of Destiny 2, which went live on the platform in October 2019. In its almost five years of service on Steam, Destiny 2 has never dipped this low in numbers, but it hardly comes as a massive surprise based on recent developments.
Bloomberg reported roughly 8% of the developer’s force was affected by cuts – staff was reportedly told that revenue was down 45% for this year due to the low player retention for Destiny 2.
Alongside its reduction in workforce, Bungie also internally delayed the upcoming Destiny 2 expansion, The Final Shape, and its back-from-the-dead shooter Marathon. Officially, Bungie has yet to announce such delays, which causes worry since The Final Shape is still determined to be released in February 2024. According to players, the game’s decline is due to Bungie making it hard for newcomers to enjoy the shooter and consumer confusion about the DLCs.
Related: The Best Time to Play Destiny 2 Is the End of the Year
“They can’t seem to figure out that making it easier for new players to get into your game is a good idea to keep your game population going,” said one Redditor about the recent news.
Another user added, “If I need to spend $200 on just DLC alone then there is zero hope for new players catching up, then having to shell out insane amounts of money for dungeons, silver, and seasonal content if they want to remain relevant.”
The highest concurrent player peak Destiny 2 has ever achieved was 316,651 when the Lightfall expansion dropped in February. The game’s sharp decline from earlier in the year has put the title in a rough spot, and it’s likely to get worse before better.
Published: Nov 20, 2023 01:56 pm