'Destiny 2' Content Drought Causes Dip In Steam Player Counts

The monthly concurrent player average for "Destiny 2" has reached a low point following a lack of meaningful content as the space-faring MMOFPS reaches the tail end of its 18th season.

In the past 30 days, its monthly playerbase on Steam dipped to about 50,000 average users, according to Steam Charts. This is far from the lowest record of 44,800 back in January 2021, but it paints a pessimistic picture, considering that "Destiny 2" has lost over 20,000 players since September of this year.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the situation is grim for Bungie's flagship title. As with all live service games, player counts tend to fluctuate for a variety of reasons. While it's easy to point out that the release of "God of War: Ragnarok" may have contributed to this dip for "Destiny 2," there are other factors to look at within the game itself.

"Season of Plunder" gave the community Arc 3.0, a bunch of new weapons, a new seasonal activity and a pirate-themed story for players to experience. The 2022 Festival of the Lost event also offered more things to do for Guardians who have time to spare.

However, this new content still suffers from the same problems that have been plaguing the game since seasons past. The tedious red border weapon grind is one of the most common complaints among fans together with the apparent pointlessness of "Destiny 2's" power grind.

"To me, the problem is that while there is content to be played, there are increasingly few reasons to play it," Forbes writer and "Destiny 2" opinion leader Paul Tassi wrote in a piece for the magazine.

This statement mimics the sentiments of fans across social media as well.

The Halloween event, in particular, was poorly received due to the menial tasks it had players do, not to mention that its launch had significant bugs that hindered progress. Others called it an "Eververse event," pertaining to the game's premium shop and the limited-time themed cosmetics that were put on sale during the event.

All of this may just be the calm before the storm as Bungie prepares for the launch of "Lightfall" early next year. It could see a major playerbase resurgence similar to "The Witch Queen," which broke "Destiny 2's" sales records and peak player counts.