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[evanft]

It peaked above 12k again. Are we so back?

 

[Kikorin]

So the game will be free to play for a week with the S2 release? This is the ultimate move to boost the CCU, if even this fail, I think they are done.

 

[calico]

Free period CCU could be anything. The Top Sellers position will be the more useful metric during the free period.

Currently still tracking below Mewgenics and Hades 2, launch aligned CCU.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Even at free launch it hit 88K. Even with hate-playing or checking out the PvE content it won't hit more than 50K.

It seems 10K is the stable number for Marathon.

 

[calico]

Even at free launch it hit 88K. Even with hate-playing or checking out the PvE content it won't hit more than 50K.

It seems 10K is the stable number for Marathon.

It wasn't free at launch.

 

[Shubh_C63]

It wasn't free at launch.

A Server slam free weekend 3 days before actual release is basically a free weekend of the game.

 

[calico]

A Server slam free weekend 3 days before actual release is basically a free weekend of the game.

It didn't peak at 88k during the server slam.

 

[Shubh_C63]

It didn't peak at 88k during the server slam.

Oh you're right. It touched 150k. hmm still might not touch 50k again.

 

[ValiantInstance]

Free to play won't save it, just as it didn't save Evolve. Players aren't interested, if they were it would've sold a lot more than it did.

 

[Mengy]

Free to play won't save it, just as it didn't save Evolve. Players aren't interested, if they were it would've sold a lot more than it did.

Agreed, but if they do eventually implement some major new PvE content (or at least a much less sweaty PvP mode to the game) it could bring in new players who get interested.

It's a long shot, one I'm not sure Bungie is up to the task of accomplishing, but there is still an outside chance they could turn this around, even though very unlikely IMHO.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Free to play won't save it, just as it didn't save Evolve. Players aren't interested, if they were it would've sold a lot more than it did.

Marathon can do Evolve.

Evolve could never do Marathon.

A lot of people still don't understand that competitive advantage.

 

[SnapShot]

We got Modern Warfare at home

 

[cormack12]

I mean, Destiny 2 has its last update. It's winding down so not sure how privatise a video is going to change anything lol.

 

[Kronark]

You're moving goalposts pretty hard here.

Our exchange started after you said this, which I found preposterous...

"Ohhh yeah continued development at Bungie is great. They'll upgrade the Marathon engine and then decide Dire Marsh isn't worth the week it should take an intern to update it to the new engine so the map is just gone forever now. Then they'll add some bullshit mechanic you don't like to increase grinding / fomo / engagement and guess what that's just part of the experience now, forever."

These are not rational fears. No one playing Marathon thinks they're going to charge for, and remove Dire Marsh. The idea that just because a different leadership team did something in one game it must mean they're going to do it in all games is illogical.

You wanted there to be an implication in my words, but in reality there was none. I've never played a LS game (and I've played a lot) where this happens.

Literally happened with Bungie's last game but whatever.

Just buckle up and enjoy watching Marathon grow, even if it's from the sidelines.

I'm reinstalling Destiny 2 for the update and I look forward to my game on it's death bed crushing Marathon.

 

[Avid Reading Horse]

Congrats on the new enemies Marathon... I was just thinking that there probably weren't enough people that hate Marathon.

 

[falconhoof]

The server slam was the last time Marathon was F2P and it didn't get more than half way through before it had dropped to it's eventual launch numbers. People had a whole extra day to play and they noped out.

I calculated some DAU numbers for that period:
Thursday: 1.5M
Friday: 1.5M
Saturday: 1M
Sunday: 800k
Monday: 400K

 

[Plague Doctor]

Oh shit...

Recent Steam Reviews are 74% and Mostly Positive.

Ruh Roh Shaggy. Players are not having a blast as they once were.

I have a feeling this is going to get worse on the free to play week. We may hit mixed or mostly negative.

 

[falconhoof]

I'm a little confused at seeing Marathon creep up the earning charts because the total hours played per day is still falling. On Monday it was 190k total player hours, now down to 172k. D2 continues to curb stomp it.

| Game      | Date UTC       | Coverage h | Avg CCU | Peak CCU | Player-hours | DAU range       | DAU midpoint |
| Destiny 2 | Thu 2026-05-28 | 24.0       | 13,591  | 18,744   | 326,176      | 108,725-260,941 | 163,088      |
| Marathon  | Thu 2026-05-28 | 24.0       |  7,182  | 12,148   | 172,365      | 57,455-137,892  |  86,183      |

 

[KimDongHwan]

The server slam was the last time Marathon was F2P and it didn't get more than half way through before it had dropped to it's eventual launch numbers. People had a whole extra day to play and they noped out.

I calculated some DAU numbers for that period:
Thursday: 1.5M
Friday: 1.5M
Saturday: 1M
Sunday: 800k
Monday: 400K

And back then people were saying "they had so much fun that they just stopped playing waiting for the official release" - basically there will always be an excuse for anything

 

[Avid Reading Horse]

Men_in_Boxes reacts to Aztecross' Marathon boycott:

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

### **Bungie Community Split Summary**
* **The Issue:** Factionalism has erupted between **Destiny** and **Marathon** players due to Bungie shifting resources between the franchises.
* **The Spark:** Destiny creator *Azacross* called for a boycott to kill Marathon in hopes of forcing *Destiny 3*.
* **The Retaliation:** Lore creator *Myelin Games* retaliated against this hostility by **privating 10 years of his Destiny lore videos** and permanently leaving the community.
* **The Motive:** Myelin aimed to mirror the community's toxicity back at them, demonstrating the pettiness of trying to destroy an IP that others enjoy.
* **Outcome:** The host concludes that sabotaging Marathon will not grant fans *Destiny 3*; it merely ensures **mutually assured destruction** and the potential collapse of Bungie.
*(Source: Bungie's Civil War Went Nuclear)*

Marathon is the final boss of the Concordian timeline....they just massively fucked up, like... they reeeeally fucked up. Gran Turismo, MLB, and Helldivers were developed/evolved outside the GaaS initiative. I think there is always room for GaaS games IF they are done organically.

As I said several weeks ago; Bungie is the final boss of all this bullshit going on in the industry.

Their demise would be the best outcome, but they are trying so damn hard to keep them afloat

Yep, this is how it feels. Like, Bungie going down not only will end the GaaS initiative within sony, but this iteration of "live games" across the entire industry.


This boss fight hasn't been disappointing at all... And it's not over.

Trying to keep this game alive is actually making things worse. The useful idiots on social media (retards more like it) will celebrate the bump in CCU from that F2P week like there is no tomorrow, "we are so back", they will also talk shit to Destiny fans and everyone who "hated" on escape from Roblox... Just for numbers to plummet shortly after OR the bump will be so pathetic that everyone will keep laughing at Bungie, Marathon and it's fans... Either way:

... How is the "community management" (most useless job in the industry) at Bungie feeling right now, how are the devs feeling... How is Sony feeling?

Bro... the humiliation and embarrassment is of epic proportions. I don't know if their silence (based on the devs' public behavior on social media over the last few years) makes this even better or actually sad.

Like, you just know there are devs who feel Marathon is failing because of the "hate" online, and they're probably desperate to call gamers out... but they can't say anything because they know (or because Sony mandated it) that posting anything would just fuck things up even more.... They must be seething so bad!!!

 

[cormack12]

Honestly, the F2P is the only level they have but there is going to be an influx of cheaters that will just destroy the game even more.

Bungie, the Marathon and Destiny community.

Men_in_boxes

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

Men_in_Boxes reacts to Aztecross' Marathon boycott:

Missed opportunity for 'everyone who is not having a blast, leave'

 

[Avid Reading Horse]

Missed opportunity for 'everyone who is not having a blast, leave'

I mean who's to say it's not a living document like the US Constitution:

 

[RafterXL]

Honestly, the F2P is the only level they have but there is going to be an influx of cheaters that will just destroy the game even more.

Bungie, the Marathon and Destiny community.

Men_in_boxes

F2P is going to backfire hard because the people who wanted the game bought the game. So, yeah, expect a ton of cheaters and even more trolls who just try it to shut up the works.

Also, say goodbye to their Steam rating because everyone who installs it during the F2P can write a review. This will not be pretty and even if they get a short term bump the negative effects will be far worse and longer lasting.

 

[SmokSmog]

4 days left till the biggest comeback ever.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Rest well this weekend for on June 2nd, we ride, shiney and chrome.

This is Fury Road boys, Marathon fights for its future and we eat the popcorn. Guardians make their own fate. Gadian.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Have any doomers in the CCU thread moved their optomism / pessimism needle based on the S2 stuff we saw this week? Or have you entrenched in for WWI style battle?

 

[Roman Empire]

Have any doomers in the CCU thread moved their optomism / pessimism needle based on the S2 stuff we saw this week? Or have you entrenched in for WWI style battle?

Well, people can just try the game on june 2nd to see the changes for themselves.

I'll jump just out of curiosity, but won't leave the frontlines lol

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Well, people can just try the game on june 2nd to see the changes for themselves.

I'll jump just out of curiosity, but won't leave the frontlines lol

 

[Zacfoldor]

Have any doomers in the CCU thread moved their optomism / pessimism needle based on the S2 stuff we saw this week? Or have you entrenched in for WWI style battle?

Aztecross is leading our rebellion at the cost of great stress and pain and financial loss. A hero rises. Gadians make their own fate. I hear he may be deleting or editing his positive Marathon videos or at least titles to them.

He's smiling down on us now. Gadians. Bungie has failed to listen, so now we appeal directly to Sony.

 

[rkofan87]

It seems 10K is the stable number for Marathon.

so the question is how long will Sony be happy with that 10K?

 

[rkofan87]

Have any doomers in the CCU thread moved their optomism / pessimism needle based on the S2 stuff we saw this week? Or have you entrenched in for WWI style battle?

not me

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Sounds like it's only sold about 300k since release period. So total around 1.5m.

007 sells nearly 500K on Steam

We dive into our early estimates for 007 First Light, celebrate one year of this newsletter, and look at your most-requested Alinea estimates.

alineaanalytics.substack.com

 

[Guilty_AI]

Have any doomers in the CCU thread moved their optomism / pessimism needle based on the S2 stuff we saw this week? Or have you entrenched in for WWI style battle?

Is there even any meaningful change in S2? Only thing that stood out was a night version of an already existing map.

 

[Kronark]

so the question is how long will Sony be happy with that 10K?

There is an argument to be made that 10k CCU is sustainable for the long term if Marathon can actually hold that number. Interest is going to shoot up for now around the F2P week and S2 launch, so we'll see like 2-3 weeks post S2 launch how well it's holding player base.

Sony did lose hundreds of million because of the development and flop launch of Marathon but that loss is done and on the books, there's no undoing that. So Sony has to look at what money they can make from seasonal cosmetic DLC and what the dev / operational / opportunity costs are. As long as the game can run lean enough and hold 10k it might be profitable? It's just going to be no where near profitable enough to support 800 staff without a new project, so layoffs are coming unless Bungie changes it's mind about D2 and resumes content dev immediately.

 

[ValiantInstance]

There is an argument to be made that 10k CCU is sustainable for the long term if Marathon can actually hold that number. Interest is going to shoot up for now around the F2P week and S2 launch, so we'll see like 2-3 weeks post S2 launch how well it's holding player base.

Sony did lose hundreds of million because of the development and flop launch of Marathon but that loss is done and on the books, there's no undoing that. So Sony has to look at what money they can make from seasonal cosmetic DLC and what the dev / operational / opportunity costs are. As long as the game can run lean enough and hold 10k it might be profitable? It's just going to be no where near profitable enough to support 800 staff without a new project, so layoffs are coming unless Bungie changes it's mind about D2 and resumes content dev immediately.

That argument becomes a hard sell when you look at the cosmetics and how ugly the characters are. This game is making it's money overwhelmingly from the price of admission. Going free to play will nuke the revenue stream. I'd also bet good money that the operating costs of the Bungie team are way higher than any earnings via microtransactions.

At the same time they will have to compensate the existing player base with free battle passes and skins if they go free to play. It really is a minefield and any direction they walk could kill the game completely.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Is there even any meaningful change in S2? Only thing that stood out was a night version of an already existing map.

A night map
A new shell
Stat reallocation via the cradle
New experimental queues
New weapons
Duos I believe
I think they are going to rethink cryo
I'm assuming after the reset the quests will be changed slightly(one would hope)

Not sure what else. It's pretty light tbh. The biggest change is the free week.

 

[jshackles]

There is an argument to be made that 10k CCU is sustainable for the long term if Marathon can actually hold that number. Interest is going to shoot up for now around the F2P week and S2 launch, so we'll see like 2-3 weeks post S2 launch how well it's holding player base.

Sony did lose hundreds of million because of the development and flop launch of Marathon but that loss is done and on the books, there's no undoing that. So Sony has to look at what money they can make from seasonal cosmetic DLC and what the dev / operational / opportunity costs are. As long as the game can run lean enough and hold 10k it might be profitable? It's just going to be no where near profitable enough to support 800 staff without a new project, so layoffs are coming unless Bungie changes it's mind about D2 and resumes content dev immediately.

"If we ignore the hundreds of millions of dollars this game has already lost, we might be able to keep a percentage of the studio open fueled by cosmetic DLC purchases" is such a wild take on calling this game profitable.

 

[Zacfoldor]

There is an argument to be made that 10k CCU is sustainable for the long term if Marathon can actually hold that number. Interest is going to shoot up for now around the F2P week and S2 launch, so we'll see like 2-3 weeks post S2 launch how well it's holding player base.

Sony did lose hundreds of million because of the development and flop launch of Marathon but that loss is done and on the books, there's no undoing that. So Sony has to look at what money they can make from seasonal cosmetic DLC and what the dev / operational / opportunity costs are. As long as the game can run lean enough and hold 10k it might be profitable? It's just going to be no where near profitable enough to support 800 staff without a new project, so layoffs are coming unless Bungie changes it's mind about D2 and resumes content dev immediately.

If only 400 people were working on Marathon and they fired everybody else that would be 400 people making 100,000 a year plus benefits. Let's forget benefits. $3,333,333.00 per month just to make payroll.

So if there are 10,000 ccu there are likely maybe 100,000 playing, so they would need to spend maybe 33.33 dollars per month each on the game to make payroll. Because many will play for free, that is asking a lot of the whales. I think 100k dau would not be sustainable. It needs more.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Downgrading the value of an asset, is not the same as writing down losses on a project.

 

[Timberwolf25]

If only 400 people were working on Marathon and they fired everybody else that would be 400 people making 100,000 a year plus benefits. Let's forget benefits. $3,333,333.00 per month just to make payroll. So each of the 10,000 would need to spend $333.33 dollars per month.

Agree for the most part, but the math is a little off as the CCU is not the total players daily (DAU) or even the total number of players still playing. Some possibly don't play daily and maybe only on the weekends.
Regardless, I doubt the vast majority spend anything on cosmetic mtx and would heavily lean to you being right about not making enough to pay the payroll for the devs currently on the game.

 

[Kronark]

If only 400 people were working on Marathon and they fired everybody else that would be 400 people making 100,000 a year plus benefits. Let's forget benefits. $3,333,333.00 per month just to make payroll.

So if there are 10,000 ccu there are likely maybe 100,000 playing, so they would need to spend maybe 33.33 dollars per month each on the game to make payroll. Because many will play for free, that is asking a lot of the whales. I think 100k dau would not be sustainable. It needs more.

I don't mean to imply the team would stay at 400. At 10k CCU / 100-150k DAU I would expect the team to get cut back to like 20-30 maybe. Enough for any reasonable studio to spit out some cosmetics, a new gun here or there, and maybe a battlepass.

"If we ignore the hundreds of millions of dollars this game has already lost, we might be able to keep a percentage of the studio open fueled by cosmetic DLC purchases" is such a wild take on calling this game profitable.

I'm not saying the game isn't in a hole overall. It's been a massive embarrassment for Sony and I still personally think it'll shrink to like 1-2k players and become unplayable most of the day within a few months.

I'm just saying that if Bungie could maybe stabilize the player base, generate ~6 million in revenue a quarter, and reduce costs to less than 4 million that's 2 million profit a quarter. Is that impressive for a game of this scale? Absolutely not but it would be enough to justify it's continued existence for the short term if it could pull in 8 million a year. Many other studios could do those numbers, and smaller AA MP games around this size probably do. Clearly Sony doesn't know what to do with Bungie so the opportunity cost of doing something else isn't really a factor atm.

The major roadblock to all of this though is again how Bungie operates. 20-30 people should be able to spit out a battlepass worth of content at most studios, but I feel like Bungie just can't do that. The fact that Marathon cost $200+ million alone is insane to me.

 

[falconhoof]

I can see a 20K CCU happening soon.

Just not for Marathon.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Is there even any meaningful change in S2?

Live Service game updates (Overwatch, Valorant, League of Legends etc) don't really build upwards in a meaningful way. They mostly reinvigerate the existing player base. Overwatch adding their 14th map and 33rd character doesn't really make it a better game than when it only had 7 maps and 16 characters.

Marathon is the worlds shortest RPG. It's getting an additional 20% of meat added to it's story.

Only thing that stood out was a night version of an already existing map.

Don't think of the update in a literal sense. View it as a canvas. Look at Marathon as a framework.

Night Marsh adds significantly more gameplay flavor than Overwatches Eichenwalde map, for example.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Okay, so here's what I'm getting.

Aztecross has turned fully on Bungie and Marathon and is trying to teach them a lesson.

A dude named Myelin got mad and dude was a lore master of Destiny 2 and has privated his D2 lore videos, I'm not sure why but probably to bury Destiny in retribution for the D2 fans attacks on Marathon.

@gladd (Sean Gallagher) is a prominent professional gamer, live-streamer, and content creator best known for his exceptional gameplay and PvE (Player vs. Environment) challenges in Destiny 2. He gained massive recognition as a core member of Clan Redeem, holding several "World First" raid completion titles.

So @Gladd responded to Myelin for hating on Aztecross and D2 fandom

Then there was another tweet I can't find that may be deleted now but I found it on insta and took a pic.

 

[Catphish]

 

[Zacfoldor]

Agree for the most part, but the math is a little off as the CCU is not the total players daily (DAU) or even the total number of players still playing. Some possibly don't play daily and maybe only on the weekends.
Regardless, I doubt the vast majority spend anything on cosmetic mtx and would heavily lean to you being right about not making enough to pay the payroll for the devs currently on the game.

Yes, totally, I messed the math up bigtime. I tried to redo it before anyone caught me but you, your good my friend.

 

[Mengy]

Have any doomers in the CCU thread moved their optomism / pessimism needle based on the S2 stuff we saw this week? Or have you entrenched in for WWI style battle?

Nothing in S2 appeals to me as someone who tried the game for over a dozen hours during the beta slam and came away having no fun at all with it. The changes and new content for S2 is just very weak IMHO.

Now, if S3/S4 really do add some PvE or far less sweaty game modes, then yeah I might give the game another chance. S2 isn't a different game though, its just small changes to the existing Marathon, which I have no interest at all in.

I'd rather just play more Arc Raiders and have fun instead.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Came in at 11.4k. Should be the peak as it's stabilized and already 11:30 pm

All time peak was launch day 88.3k. Today's peak at 11.4k is -76.9k or -87%

Today vs yesterday: 11.4k vs 11.2k (+0.2k or +2%)

Yesterday's low 3.3k. If the rate holds, low tonight will be 3.4k, but it's Fri night. So more likely 4.2 - 4.4k as gamers stay up

Fri vs Fri: 11.4k vs 11.8k (-0.4k or -3%). Trending lately is about -15% to +10% since early May. All over the place

Ratio method to estimate peaks and valleys
Mon-Thur 3.3:1. For example, a peak of 12k will have a low of 3.6k. For Fri/Sat, gamers stay up playing so the ratio is 2.5:1

Steam Rankings
Daily Active Users: 153
Global Top Sellers: 169
Weekly Top Sellers: Unknown. Not on top 100
Top Rated Games: 6,843 (82.51%)