Destiny 2 player numbers plummet after Final Shape’s “Endgame” finale

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Players are continuing to leave Destiny 2 behind following the game’s movie to more episodic content. Unfortunately, Bungie’s eight-year-old MMO is struggling to retain players outside of its core fanbase. But why are Destiny 2 player numbers so low?

Destiny 2 player numbers keep falling

While Destiny 2 The Final Shape was one of the game’s strongest packages in years, players are continuing to leave Bungie’s MMO. With the game’s last expansion pitched as the end of Destiny’s first arc, many players don’t see the point in playing anymore. 

Data from Steam Charts, collated by Reddit, shows that Destiny 2 players are leaving the game behind. After The Witch Queen, average player numbers rested around 67,000 whereas Lightfall player numbers stood at 76,000. 

In comparison, Destiny 2 player numbers after The Final Shape stand at just 43,000. While The Final Shape was a great expansion, Destiny’s move to episodic content instead of weekly logins is causing players to move onto other titles. 

“I don’t think the episodic format is doing a lot of favors either,” one fan said. “But ultimately I think a lot of people played final shape to see how the saga ended and have moved on. The game’s coming up on 10 years. It was bound to happen.”

Other players likened The Final Shape to Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame. Capping off a decade-long narrative arc, many players have seen the story through to a satisfying conclusion. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that some players are simply done with Destiny. 

The future of Destiny 

At the time of writing, Bungie’s plans for Destiny as a whole are unclear. Recent leaks revealed a scrapped Destiny spin-off, but with Destiny 2 support continuing it’s not known if or when a Destiny 3 will release. 

Furthermore, Bungje is also focusing on Marathon, a hero-based extraction shooter loosely based on the studio’s 1994 Mac FPS game. 

Nevertheless, this isn’t doom and gloom for Destiny. As it stands, the MMO still has a strong core audience, and that audience spreads across more than just Steam. However, these player numbers are a good insight into the current state of Bungie’s MMO. 

About the Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with a decade of experience writing news, reviews, features and investigative pieces about game development with a focus on Halo and Xbox.