Marathon Failed to Make the Expected Impact in Server Slam Test

Marathon’s server slam test began on Thursday, and within just a few hours, hundreds of thousands of players either downloaded the game or took their place watching their favorite streamers. Making a rapid entrance by reaching 143,000 concurrent players on Steam alone, the game unfortunately could not maintain this momentum.

After the first six hours, the peak player count dropped by 30,000, and by the following evening, the numbers had receded to half of the highest level. Many thought that with the weekend holiday, players would flock to Bungie's Marathon, but things did not go as expected. However, despite all this decline, the server slam test managed to outpace some giant names on Steam.

A Crossroads for Marathon: Success or Disappointment?

Although Marathon did not create a massive storm in the gaming world over the weekend, it managed to surpass heavyweights of the genre like Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty.

In fact, it is no secret that these two giant series have been struggling with serious issues for the past few months. Black Ops 7 failed to generate the expected excitement and was met with indifference by the community. On the other hand, Battlefield 6 continues to stumble between slow updates and innovations that fail to meet community expectations.

Launching on March 5, Marathon will be the 'new and shiny' name of this month and represents Bungie's expected move into the extraction shooter genre. While it will compete with very strong rivals like ARC Raiders and Escape from Tarkov, tens of thousands of players have already tasted Marathon and likely want more.

According to Steam data, Marathon's 24-hour peak player count in the server slam test was 76,437. To compare with other similar games in the genre, the table is as follows:

• ARC Raiders – 227,765
• Apex Legends – 201,571
• Marathon – 76,437
• Battlefield 6 – 71,861
• Call of Duty – 52,575
• Escape from Tarkov – 19,220
• Destiny 2 – 11,623

Discussions around Marathon are currently quite mixed. There is enough positive atmosphere for the game to have a reasonable launch, but it is essential for Bungie to provide a very solid content plan and rapid updates. The development team has already rolled up their sleeves to solve the biggest problems, from complex user interface (UI) complaints to the lack of PvP and PC optimization.

On the other hand, Marathon, just like other extraction games, will either live or die based on how worth watching it is. If streamers and content creators warm up to the game, they can hold the audience and provide a continuous flow of new players to the game. Otherwise, the bells may start tolling quickly for Marathon.

In the opening hours of the server slam, Marathon reached approximately 301,000 viewers on Twitch. On Sunday, March 1, this figure reached the 350,000 level with the influence of popular streamers. However, this success was short-lived. Following this peak around 19:00 (UTC), the viewer count fell to 70,000 by 22:00 (UTC).

It should be noted that these data do not paint a completely negative picture of Marathon's performance. The game could bring a truly fresh breath to the extraction shooter genre, just as ARC Raiders did in October 2025. It stands unique enough to leave a mark on the market with its own style, but we will see together how long-lasting this success will be.

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