Following the expansion’s launch on July 15,Destiny 2: The Edge of Fatehas experienced low Steam player count numbers when compared toDestiny 2’spast expansions.The Edge of Fatekicked off the Year of Prophecy ofDestiny 2, but the Steam player count may point toward players wanting more from the game before diving into the expansion.
Serving as the start of the new multi-year Fate saga,Destiny 2: The Edge of Fatetakes players to a new destination called Kepler, which is located on the outskirts of the solar system. The expansion introduces a new mystery involving the Nine, a new character named Lodi, and Orin the Lost, who was formerly known as the Emissary of the Nine. Along with the new expansion,Destiny 2players now have a new artifact to level and unlock perks from. The expansion may mark the start of a newDestiny 2saga, but it appears that many players who enjoyedThe Final Shapeare not returning to the game.
As reported byTheGamer,Destiny 2: The Edge of Fateonly brought in a peak concurrent player count of 99,193 players on Steam on launch day, according to SteamDB charts. The concurrent player count has since fallen to around 89,000 players on July 16, andThe Edge of Fateis now one of the most under-performing expansions inDestiny 2’shistory. For example,Destiny 2: The Final Shapeexperienced a peak player count of 314,000 on Steam in June 2024. When compared toDestiny 2: The Final Shape’ssuccess,The Edge of Fatehas roughly one third of the player base thatThe Final Shapeonce had at launch. 2022’sThe Witch Queenexpansion reached over 290,000 players on Steam at the time of its launch, andBeyond Lightexperienced similar success at launch with 240,000 Steam players in 2020.
Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate Pulls in the Lowest Launch Steam Player Count in Destiny 2’s History at 99,193 Players
Growing player fatigue is likely one of the main factors that contributed toDestiny 2: The Edge of Fate’sunderperformance on Steam, along withthe compounding list of problems at Bungie. However, there’s still plenty of time forDestiny 2to pull things around, as the game is set to receive major expansions during The Year of Prophecy.
The next expansion,Destiny 2: Renegades, is inspired byStar Warsand will launch in December 2025. AlthoughRenegadeshas the chance to bring back lapsed players, only time will tell ifDestiny 2will hold a healthy player base and return toThe Final Shape-esque player counts.
