This article was updated by Andrea Trama on March 10, 2026, with game developer responses to the bombing of Marathon's player numbers discourse and new updated numbers. It was first published on March 7.
waiting Marathon Finally finished. Bungie's breakout shooter had a long and rocky road to get to this point, but it finally made it across the finish line. Marathon There has already been a very strong response, which is promising. At the time of this writing, the game's Steam reviews are sitting at “very positive,” and the pre-launch server slam helped generate some much-needed positive hype. However, its main competitor continues to reign supreme.
With its Metacritic reviews tanking after many players left 0 scores on the platform, Marathon Review is bombarding. However, the game's player count on Steam has improved, which is a good sign considering it's a regular weekday.
ARC Raiders It launched back in October, and it introduced one of the most accessible escape shooters to date. before ARC RaidersThe genre was a better world, but Embark Studios has attracted an impressive player count to this gameplay. The Marathon Vs ARC Raiders The release of the debate is likely to be a version of the shooter genre Call of Duty Vs battlefieldbut ARC Raiders is clearly in the lead, at least when it comes to steam numbers.
Best PC Settings for Marathon (Optimization Guide)
While Marathon is properly optimized on PC, players can improve its performance by trying these best settings and getting higher FPS.
ARC Raiders' Steam numbers are going to be hard to beat
- Players are now active — 163,084
- 24-hour peak – 173,740
- All time player peak — 481, 966
ARC Raiders'Player numbers may be down from their peak, but that's normal. Since the start of the game, ARC Raiders Have managed to maintain a consistent audience, and that is ultimately the most important thing. A big peak means nothing if the game can't convince players to come back again and again.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
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Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5) Medium (7) Hard (10)
An unfortunate example of this happened recently. Hero-shooter Highguard Although it started at the end of January, it is closing. Its all-time peak was around 100,000 players when the game launched, but it quickly took a downturn. The game will officially end on March 12. now, Highguard About 350 players are active. Retaining players is one of the hardest parts of building a live-service game, but Embark Studios has been incredibly successful. ARC Raiders so far Like games ARC Raiders and Hell Diver 2 A unique approach to the live-service model has been adopted, and this has helped them stand out and stay interesting.
The marathon may not be pulling in ARC rider numbers, but it's off to a solid start
- Players are now active – 51,208
- 24-hour peak – 66,593
- All time player peak — 88,337
This is a relatively modest player count ARC RaidersBut it's definitely not bad. Also, this is Steam players only. There is a real possibility ARC Raiders PC viewers may end up cornering more, while Marathon The console market takes over. It's really too early to tell, though MarathonSteam's numbers are nothing to joke about. The server slam peaked at 143,621, so Marathon Almost half of those participants lost in the launch (although this is actually impressive, many of these players were probably just trying because it was free to do).
There's still plenty of time to bounce back, too. Also, it has already been confirmed that Bungie is making the change Marathon After the server slam response, one of the biggest complaints MarathonUI design. Once these updates are made, more players can join the fun. Again, though, while ARC Raiders Steam has a slight advantage, MarathonPC numbers are still very solid.
Marathon and ARC riders are now at two very different stages
Marathon At this point is out for a few days, and ARC Raiders He has been out for months. The latter may have had a strong start, but not every sports success story is the same. Marathon It may very well be a diamond in the rough that begins to have even greater competition ARC Raiders Bungie tweaks and improves it. Plus, both extraction shooters are incredibly different, so there's room for fans of the genre to enjoy both. As the year continues, it will be fascinating to see how Marathon Vs ARC Raiders The discourse continues. Because they feel worlds apart, they'll likely cultivate their own niche audiences over time, though there'll certainly be a good bit of overlap and a back-and-forth battle for a portion of the extraction shooter player base.
- issued
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Juvenile/animated blood, language, violence, in-game purchases, user interaction
- Multiplayer
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Online multiplayer, online co-op
