Marathon may actually have a shot as Server Slam hits it big on Steam

Issues are formally wanting higher for Marathon. The sport’s Server Slam, basically an open beta that’s freely obtainable in every single place, has kicked off. That is the final probability for anybody interested by Bungie’s subsequent huge sport to play it earlier than it formally goes on sale subsequent week.

Contemplating how unpopular the sport has been all through its improvement, and judging by the suggestions from earlier closed beta checks, the turnout for the Server Slam is certainly encouraging.

The Marathon Server Slam has been on-line for a bit of over 12 hours on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Collection X/S. Solely a kind of platforms shares participant numbers, after all, nevertheless it’s sufficient to supply some visibility into how standard the check has been.

Instantly after servers went dwell, Marathon shot up the Steam most performed charts. The sport rapidly achieved a peak of 143,621 concurrent gamers (through SteamDB), which could be very respectable. On condition that the Server Slam will probably be obtainable for your entire weekend, there’s each probability the numbers will go up.

These figures are notably encouraging whenever you take a look at Arc Raiders, the present high canine within the extraction shooter house, and the sport that stole Marathon’s thunder final yr when the 2 of them have been being promoted by their publishers. Marathon, after all, obtained delayed out of 2025, which allowed Arc Raiders to launch first. It, after all, ended up proving that extraction shooters can be mainstream hits.

Like Marathon, Arc Raiders hosted its personal server slam only a few days earlier than its launch. That open test attracted 189,668 concurrent players at its peak, which isn’t that far off from Marathon’s to this point.

Assuming optimistic phrase of mouth continues, extra gamers are certain to leap in over the weekend and maybe get Marathon to match and even exceed Arc Raiders’ file. At any fee, that is excellent news for beleaguered Bungie and factors to what might be a giant launch.

Marathon arrives March 5 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Collection X/S.