Marathon's Player Count Vs. Slay The Spire 2: Who Cares?

"Marathon, Bungie and Sony's $40 extraction shooter reboot, released on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Steam on March 5, but a free 'Server Slam' taster of the game ran from February 25 to March 2. The Server Slam pulled in a concurrent all-time player peak of 143,621 on Steam, yet the full release has only reached an all-time peak of 88,337 players."

"There are countless extenuating reasons as to why these are all stupid bits of information to compare against Marathon. Marathon is a free-to-play game, whereas Slay the Spire II costs $40. Slay the Spire II is currently only available on PC, whereas Marathon is multiplatform."

"According to the devs behind some of the most popular multiplayer shooters on Steam, the answer to all these questions is 'no,' with a side serving of 'touch grass.' Dylan Snyder (Overwatch's senior designer) makes a far more compelling argument against countwatching Marathon's Steam numbers."

Marathon, Bungie and Sony's $40 extraction shooter, experienced a significant drop in concurrent players from its Server Slam peak of 143,621 to a full release peak of 88,337 on Steam. This decline sparked online criticism claiming the game is a failure. However, developers from successful multiplayer shooters argue that obsessing over Steam player count numbers is misguided. Multiple factors complicate such comparisons: Marathon is paid while competitors are free-to-play, Marathon is multiplatform while others are PC-exclusive, and different game types attract different audiences. Senior designers like Dylan Snyder from Overwatch contend that fixating on Steam concurrent player metrics provides misleading conclusions about a game's actual success or viability.

Read at Kotaku