This article was updated by Andrea Trama on March 10, 2026 to include the game's developer's response to Marathon's player count discourse and review bombardment, including new updated numbers. First published March 7.
wait marathon It's finally over. Bungie's extraction shooter has had a long and rocky road to get to this point, but it's finally crossed the finish line. marathon We've already received a lot of strong feedback, and the results are promising. As of this writing, the game's Steam reviews are sitting at a “very positive” level, and the pre-release Server Slam has helped generate some much-needed positive hype. However, its main competitor continues to claim the top spot.
Marathon is being bombarded with reviews, with its Metacritic reviews plummeting after many players left zero ratings on the platform. However, the number of players for the game on Steam has increased, which is a good sign considering it's a regular weekday.
ARC Raiders It was released in October and featured one of the most accessible extraction shooters ever. before ARC RaidersAlthough the genre is a bit more niche, Embark Studios' approach to this gameplay has attracted an impressive number of players. that marathon big ARC Raiders The argument is likely to be a version of the extraction shooter genre. call of duty big battlefieldbut ARC Raiders At least when it comes to Steam numbers, it's clearly in the lead.
Optimal PC Settings for Marathons (Optimization Guide)
Marathon is reasonably optimized on PC, but players can further improve performance by trying these best settings and achieving higher FPS.
ARC Raiders' Steam Numbers Will Be Hard to Beat
- Currently active players – 163,084
- 24 hour peak — 173,740
- All-time player highs — 481, 966
ARC Raiders' Player numbers may have decreased since the peak, but this is normal. After the game was released, ARC Raiders You've succeeded in maintaining a consistent audience, which is ultimately what matters most. Huge highs mean nothing if the game can't convince players to keep coming back.
Rearranges covers into correct US release order.
start
Rearranges covers into correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Difficult (10)
An unfortunate example of this also happened recently. hero shooter High guard Despite being released in late January, it ended. The game reached an all-time high of nearly 100,000 players at launch, but quickly declined. The game officially ends on March 12th. As of now, High guard There are approximately 350 active players. Retaining players is one of the hardest parts of building a live service game, but Embark Studios ARC Raiders until now. games like ARC Raiders and Helldiver 2 They took a unique approach to their live service model, which helped them stand out and maintain interest.
Marathon may not be able to match the ARC Raiders' record, but they are off to a solid start.
- Currently active players — 51,208
- 24 hour peak — 66,593
- All-time player highs – 88,337
This is a small number of players compared to: ARC RaidersBut it's definitely not bad. Also, this is just a Steam player. It's actually possible ARC Raiders Although it may capture a larger PC audience, marathon They dominate the console market. It's still too early to tell, but marathon's Steam numbers are nothing to scoff at. The highest record for server slams was 143,621. marathon At launch, we lost almost half of our participants. (It's actually impressive, but many players likely only tried it because it's free.)
There is still plenty of time to bounce back. Additionally, it's already been confirmed that Bungie is making the following changes: marathon One of the biggest complaints after Server Slam feedback is: marathonThis is the UI design. With these updates, more players will be able to join in on the fun. But while doing so again ARC Raiders Steam has a significant advantage. marathonThe PC count is still very solid.
Marathon and the ARC Raiders are currently in two very different phases.
marathon At this point I've been out for a few days, ARC Raiders I've been out for months. The latter may have started off strong, but not all games' success stories are equal. marathon It could be a diamond in the rough that starts to become a much bigger competitor. ARC Raiders As Bungie tweaks and improves it. Additionally, the two extraction shooters are so incredibly different that there's room for fans of the genre to enjoy both. As the years go by, it will be interesting to see how the results change. marathon big ARC Raiders The discourse continues to unfold. They'll likely cultivate their own specific audiences over time, as they feel the world is different from each other, but there will definitely be some overlap and back-and-forth battles over chunks of the extractive shooter player base.
- released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen/Animation Blood, Language, Violence, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction
- multiplayer
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Online multiplayer, online co-op
