Destiny 3 Petition Surpasses Marathon's Peak Concurrent Players

The Destiny 3 petition that was started after the recent news of Destiny 2‘s final update has already amassed an incredible number of signatures, more than the concurrent players of Bungie’s Marathon. Even before Marathon‘s success, Destiny fans were worried that it would put Bungie in a situation where the studio had to prioritize development of one game or the other, rather than both. This is because Bungie was already in a weak spot when it launched Marathon, after issues with plagiarism, a management crisis, previous layoffs, and Destiny 2‘s numbers plummeting.

Amidst all that, community morale also started plummeting, as fans called for certain changes that never came, or, when they did, they were not enough. For many, Destiny 2 wrapped with The Final Shape’s story, and for many of those who kept playing, there were still issues with the game. All this likely contributed to the announcement of Destiny 2‘s final update in June 2026, but fans are not quietly accepting the end of the franchise and thus started a petition for Sony to make a sequel.

Destiny 3 Isn’t Happening, Bungie Expected to Be Hit With Significant Layoffs

Bungie is reportedly facing significant layoffs, and Destiny 3 is said to be off the table as the studio shifts its focus elsewhere.

Destiny 3 Petition Gets 190,000 Signatures, More Than Marathon’s Player Peak

The official Destiny 3 petition has reached an impressive number of unique, verified signatures, with almost 190,000 fans signing it at the time of writing. This is particularly interesting because it’s well over the estimated number of concurrent Marathon players at its peak, which is supposedly somewhere in the ballpark of 130,000 to 150,000. This is because, according to Paul Tassi’s Bungie source, the ratio of players for Marathon is around 2-to-1 when it comes to Steam vs. console.

Put the consoles in the correct order.

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Since Marathon‘s player count peaked at 88,337 on Steam, it would translate to around 132,000 players based on this ratio. Of course, numbers may have been different when the game launched, and to address that, the hypothetical peak could be around 150,000 instead. With the Destiny 3 petition reaching 190,000 signatures in just two days, one could argue that there is a lot of untapped and wasted potential with Destiny 2‘s untimely death.

A Marathon Runner caught in close-quarters combat with a customized PDW firearm.

Destiny 2 fans are saying goodbye to the game they loved, even for a fraction of its lifespan, mourning the fact that there may never be another game quite like it. In fact, even if Destiny 3 were to be made, which is currently very unlikely due to it not being in production and Bungie allegedly facing even more mass layoffs, it may end up being a very different game than its predecessor. There may be time jumps, recasts for actors playing major characters, some characters being removed entirely, gameplay changes, a rework of the live-service formula, and more.

Scratch & Peek

Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.

Scratch & Peek

Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible.

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This game, and the franchise as a whole, changed or at least touched the lives of many players worldwide, so it’s natural to see so many comments online about its demise. For example, it seems like Destiny 2 devs left a message for fans with Xur’s weapons the past weekend, essentially saying goodbye to both the game they helped make and to the community that formed. Whether the petition for Destiny 3 does anything is hard to say, but fans have the chance to rally together behind Destiny 2 one more time on June 9, once the final update goes live, to help raise the concurrent player number in the face of the game’s end.