'The Only Way to Keep Bungie Alive Is to Support Marathon,' Ex-Destiny Community Manager Says
As Destiny 2 fans mourn the end of new content updates, Bungie's former community manager, Liana Ruppert, has criticized players who focus on comparing Marathon's player numbers to Destiny 2. Ruppert argues that the studio's challenges began well before Sony acquired the company, and that the $3.7 billion buyout was a last-minute effort to save Bungie from closure.
Since Marathon's debut in March, fans have frequently compared the player counts of both games. Many believe that every time Destiny 2 sees a spike in popularity, it proves that Bungie (and Sony) acted too soon in ending support for the game. Conversely, each drop in Marathon's player base has been interpreted as a sign that the extraction shooter was a wasted effort, taking away focus from Destiny 2 development. However, Ruppert insists that the studio’s current issues were not caused by Marathon or Sony's acquisition, but rather were already in place before either event.
Ruppert clarified in a recent message that Bungie's situation was dire even before Sony stepped in. She explained, "This fight was pre-Sony. Bungie was below the red line before the Sony acquisition. If it wasn’t acquired right then, the studio was very close to shutting its doors at the very least on Destiny. It was an emergency acquisition."
With Destiny 2's final update now in the hands of fans, the majority of Bungie's resources are being directed toward Marathon. However, concerns about potential layoffs are growing. Meanwhile, players have begun demanding that Sony greenlight Destiny 3, despite the current climate of game development and the fact that it would likely be years before the sequel could launch. Fans have even flooded the live chat of recent Sony showcases, including State of Play, with calls for Destiny 3 development to begin.
Instead of pushing for a new Destiny game immediately, Ruppert suggests that the best way to ensure Bungie survives to create Destiny 3 someday is to support Marathon now. She argues that Marathon was never designed to rival Destiny 2's larger player base and is more straightforward to develop and maintain. "Half the community is going to hate me for saying this, but the only way to keep Bungie alive right now is to support Marathon," Ruppert said. "People keep comparing Marathon numbers to Destiny and frankly, that's ignorant. Marathon was never designed to do [Destiny 2] numbers. The conversations about that were very upfront early. It's more aligned with [fellow extraction shooter Escape from] Tarkov than Destiny. Completely different target markets that just so happen to have a wide intersection with Destiny target markets since it uniquely has so many."
Destiny 2's final update saw a spike in Steam player numbers, reaching 167,000 concurrent players — the highest it has been in a while. However, Marathon has an all-time Steam player count peak of 77,358 at its launch, with a 24-hour peak of less than 16,000 players. While these numbers are significantly lower than those of Destiny 2, it's important to note that many more players log into both games via PlayStation and Xbox, which do not publicly display their player statistics.
Ruppert believes that Marathon is performing as expected and has a dedicated, loyal fanbase. "Marathon scratches a small but VERY loyal niche. And it's doing a good job at it. Marathon has a beyond killer team," she said.
The future of Destiny and Bungie remains uncertain. Despite fan outcry, there has been no indication that Bungie will reconsider its decision to stop developing new Destiny 2 content. For now, Bungie remains focused on Marathon — and it may be some time before the studio returns to Destiny development. In the meantime, the future of Bungie may depend on the support of its fans.
