r/MarathonPlayerCount

I predict a sub 7k peak today. It will be fantastic

From my experience with other AAA games in this industry, this is it. This is the point of no return for games.

Highguard and Concord both had more players than Marathon did when their plugs were pulled, and just about every other game I've played facing shutdown has had more players too.

The only saving grace for Bungie, is that Sony may not want to dissolve such a long standing studio. But then again, that may be the only way Sony recoups anything.

Bungie has been radio silent for the last two weeks, all while the player count continues to dwindle. It’s hard to imagine being in their shoes right now and not trying to push any emergency button you can.

I feel like the easiest way to keep some players and maybe bring a few back is just to bring back Sponsored Survival. At least until the midseason drops. This feels like the absolute bare minimum they should do. Otherwise we’re gonna be looking at 5k peaks before midseason.

Bungie the game needs a reprieve pve mode from the pvp to help with player count. Genuinely who cares if people can get decent things from it. You need those people to get those items so they can cycle back into the pvp lobbies. Just add it back please. It was such a nice break from the constant sweat fests of the main modes.

Marathon’s player count is dwindling - that much is clear. So what can turn the tide?

Personally, I really like Marathon’s world. I think the character designs, setting, and lore are all very well done. At the same time, though, there are plenty of things that just don’t work.

My main gripe with the game is the low TTK. It heavily encourages either gearing yourself up with the best possible equipment, just to survive half a second longer when someone gets the drop on you, or camping like a rat so you can be the one to shoot first and gain a massive advantage.

By comparison, I think Arc Raiders handles TTK much better. Even when someone spots you first, good positioning and weapon use can still give you a chance to win the fight.

Beyond that, I think the UI is a major problem. The main menu is far too confusing, especially for new players - although by now muscle memory lets me click through it without thinking. I’m even less fond of some of the in-game UI choices, such as not being able to immediately tell what implants or equipment you’ve just found. In my opinion, it makes no sense that a player has to stop in the middle of a match, hover over an implant, and read its description just to figure out what it is. An icon should make it immediately clear which implant you’ve picked up.

My third gripe with the game would be the community, but I’ll leave that aside for now.

So what do you think Marathon could improve to make the game better, or at least stop it from haemorrhaging players on a weekly basis?

Edit: As some people pointed out, certain improvements or additions to the game would probably cost a lot of extra money, and Sony might never sign off on them. So, think of this more as a thought exercise where budget isn’t an issue.

So it looks like there was no afternoon spike tonight. Sundays the evening the spike is usually lower than the first but it looks as if the whole thing just dropped

https://preview.redd.it/43p7sx90wibh1.png?width=249&format=png&auto=webp&s=49a45345f5dcd12d424ebe9b3bbe5468a88c7844

I have been thinking about how this supposed hate campaign the Marathon subreddit spouts all the time and wanted to post some ruminations. I would have posted in the Marathon Steam Charts megathread on the actual sub but they would likely delete comment and maybe ban. Might as well post elsewhere. Also feel that this sub needs more overall discussion than just steamcharts. Anyways, we'll take a look at The Last of Us 2 since I feel that game is pretty relevant here.

To start off, The Last of Us 2 release timeline recap. This goes through the entire timeline of The Last of Us 2 to Release. To the people who don't know, most of the Last of Us 2 plot got revealed months before game release. During that time stirred many a person outraged over the game's choices. 3 days before release, the entire story is leaked and the crowd who had been raging before went into full meltdown. If you had been anywhere near the gaming community during that time, you definitely heard about tLoU2 and it's controversy. You also witnessed the rise of certain subreddits turning legit into toxic hellholes that could rival Chernobyl because of this game. Like 2 months after game has been out and people aren't just hating the game, they hate anything that touched the game. Actors, studio, DEI practices, and more (they may cleaned up the subreddit since then. Also not linking to subreddit but you can probably find out easily enough which one I am talking about)

The point? That game had such a hate fetish that I don't think I have ever quite seen again. Clearly must have messed up their sales right???

• The Last of Us 2 sells 4 million in 8 days.
• The Last of Us 2 sold at least 10 million copies by June 2022.

All of this to just get at the fact that "hate campaign" is just a counterfeit rebuttal for a game that at the end of the day is just not fun enough and lacks too much as a game. It just isn't enough. The key phrase for both Bungie and Marathon is this: A day late and a dollar short.

Also:

Guess everyone unironically is out partying on July 4th.

Due to the increase in traffic here the last few days, I think this should be made clear.

This is not a subreddit meant for hating on Marathon. The majority of us that migrated here from the main Marathon subreddit are people who purchased the game, played it (or still play it), and simply want a space where we can discuss how the game is performing and what could be improved, without worrying about the oppressive moderation of the main subreddit.

Contrary to what you may believe, many of us *do* like the game want to see it succeed. Some may like it more than others, but we all see aspects that we enjoy. We see the potential and simply want the game to reach that potential.

This is not a space meant for dunking on Marathon and relishing in its demise. It’s a place meant for discussing what went wrong and what could be changed, as well as analyzing player trends and behavior.

I think this should be made clear for both the “blast havers” who are offended by the existence of this sub, as well as the r/MarathonHate members who think this is just a second place where they can troll and jerk each other off. The main sub and the hate sub already serve your respective purposes.

Hello all,

I've decided to start posting my weekly recaps here as well as on the r/Marathon mega-thread as recent changes there has made posting more difficult (my last steam numbers being automodded) and traffic seems to have fallen off.

Edit: lol - yep , this post in the mega-thread got auto-modded immediately. I guess they are working on approving posts basis now.

Week-on-Week update for Fri/Sat (Sat 03:00 UTC).
Back to a week-on-week drop of approx 20% at 8100 players, and five hundred down on yesterdays more positive peak (8630). There has to be a July 4th effect going on today though as the US peak fell below EU which is not normally the case for a Fri/Sat.

Much of the week was bouncing between peaks of 7.5k and 8.5k, but the weekend looks like it will settle at about 8k. This is really not a good number and we are now below 10% of the launch peak just 4 months ago. With such a large week-on-week drop it would appear unlikely that we've reached the floor yet, but one has to wonder just how much lower will it go.

Seems like Vault Breakers can't come soon enough, but its almost 3 weeks off still, and I'm unsure just how many players its going to be able to claw back.

NB - Why do I post this? I like numbers, but more importantly I want to keep a record of the numbers and my thoughts when major events occur so I can look back and remind myself of exactly what I was thinking at the time. This will allow some reflection and hopefully guide any future predictions, or at least trends with regards to similar games.

NB - Season 1 results can be found in this comment.

NB - Daily Users (active) is speculative as I've tied them to the same relative drops that peak player counts follow. The original numbers (478k launch and 345k circa 28th March) come from Paul Tassi article.

I think the mods have made it clear that they are looking to sunset that thread without actually just saying it or doing it. Over-moderation will always and inevitably lead to less and less engagement over time to the point where you kill whatever thread or sub in question.

Damn shame too because I've had some pretty interesting discussions there over the last few months, many of which acting as insight to the broader player number discussion

Oh Noe’s, I need to discuss player counts. Really? You guys are seriously lame. No cool plays, no pro tips. Just another complain fest! Nothing fun here 🤣

Yeah yeah, I know things with Destiny 2 had already been shitty for years. And obviously Bungo couldn't keep a known sex pest as their game director for Marathon. But everything that is terrible about Marathon came from him, and now it seems really likely Bungie will be sold for parts after Marathon is shut down.

So all I can say is, hiring him as the new game director is probably what killed Marathon. And if Marathon's failure results in the demise of Bungie, it will end up being the single worst decision the company had ever made.

Marathon hasn't breached top 100 sellers for weeks. And more often than not its deep in the 200s (and sometimes in the 300s)

I have a question?

How much money a day is the game making?

It can't be more than like 7'000 dollars a day right?

I am being extremely generous.

I mean marathon is neck to neck with ultra niche indie games made by 1 person and shit like "supermarket simulator"

Why hasn't Sony shut the game down yet?

They are making 0 money and they can't seriously believe this is shit can be saved?

I mean season 3 will be the last season. That's virtually certain.

Expressions of frustration are ok, constructive feedback is ok. As a rule of thumb, if you are naming a specific user/mod, there should be a very good reason for it .

They are also allowed here, if they engage with you please adhere to site wide rules in doing so. It is fine if you end up having it out with them, but please do so respectfully.

Not trying to have things escalate.

Thanks

Like how can a normal person look at that and not think it's extremely derranged. Trying to censor people left, right and center, sticking your fingers into your ears and hiding the truth and simple facts with any means necessary.

I have a lot of thoughts about these events but I wanted to add, since I'm getting some notifications: mods from r/marathon are allowed here. I'm not going to ban them or remove their comments unless rule violations are totally unambiguous. I'm not going to resort to a broad and seemingly random application of the rules 😅