Overwatch and Warframe Developers Call Debating Marathon’s Steam Player Count ‘Cringe’

Are the player counts on Steam a true measure of a game’s success? Does a significant drop in concurrent players signal the end for a competitive online title? And can obsessively tracking SteamDB numbers actually make you more attractive? According to developers behind some of the top multiplayer shooters on Steam, the answer to all these questions is a resounding “no,” with a side note to “get outside.”

Marathon, the $40 extraction shooter reboot from Bungie and Sony, launched on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Steam on March 5, following a free “Server Slam” event from February 25 to March 2. During the Server Slam, the game hit a peak of 143,621 concurrent players on Steam, but the full release only managed to reach 88,337 players at its highest. That’s barely over half! Is this a sign of failure? Are Bungie’s days numbered?

If that sounds like a stretch, you might want to avoid searching for “Marathon” on social media, as the discourse there can get pretty wild. There are a few factors fueling this discussion (if you can even call it that).

For starters, the recent news that Highguard, which peaked at 97,249 players on January 26, will be permanently shutting down on March 12 has certainly added fuel to the fire. The comparisons between Marathon, a game developed by the studio behind Halo and Destiny, and Slay the Spire II, an indie title in early access, have also drawn ridicule online.

There are plenty of reasons why these comparisons are misguided. Highguard is free-to-play, while Marathon comes with a price tag. Slay the Spire II is currently only on PC, whereas Marathon is available across multiple platforms. However, as noted by a developer, Dylan Snyder, the obsession with tracking Marathon’s Steam numbers is just plain cringeworthy.

“Is the 50% player drop in the room with us right now?” Snyder posted, sharing an image of someone comparing the Server Slam numbers to the full release. “Feel free to dislike and skip any game you want, but this is big unemployed, maidenless behavior…”

Snyder isn’t alone in his thoughts; Rebecca Ford, the creative director of Warframe, also weighed in. “I’m thinking of naming our next Warframe release ‘Player Count’ to mess with the searches and counter this discourse.”

“When Warframe launched, we had 435 other titles competing for the attention of millions of Steam users,” Ford added in another post. “Now, games have to compete with 20,014 other titles in the same year, alongside millions of users who have already seen over 80,000 prior releases they might have liked.”

Ford’s point hits home when you look at the SteamDB numbers for the original Slay the Spire. When it entered early access on November 15, it peaked at just 153 players. By December, that number climbed to 3,206, and by February 2018, it reached 33,086.

Deep Rock Galactic launched in early access on February 28, 2018, with a peak of 2,869 players. Fast forward to February 2026, and it hit a peak of 38,489. Among Us debuted on November 16, 2018, with a peak of just 20 players, but by September 2020, it soared to an all-time high of 447,476. Even a major title like Dragon Ball FighterZ saw a 24-hour peak of only 811 players. You’d think the developers would have given up by now, but Bandai recently announced a new DLC character coming in about two months.

Honestly, Snyder has a point here; I can almost feel myself turning into a cockroach as I stare at these SteamDB charts. Marathon could flop, or it might just become the highest-charting Steam game ever next month. More likely, it will experience peaks and troughs over time, which is a far less dramatic outcome than the doomsayers on social media are anticipating.