Home Destiny 2: The Final Shape barely misses setting a player record on its first day

Destiny 2: The Final Shape barely misses setting a player record on its first day

tl;dr

  • Destiny 2: The Final Shape nearly set a PC player-count record with 314,634 peak concurrent users, just shy of the 316,750 record.
  • The player spike suggests the expansion is a hit beyond nostalgia, despite long queue times and server issues on launch day.
  • Launching June 4, The Final Shape adds the Prismatic subclass, new gear, and a final showdown with The Witness, with a raid live on June 7.

Destiny 2: The Final Shape, the narrative-concluding premium DLC chapter for Bungie’s seven-year-old loot shooter, came ever so close to helping the title set a player-count record on PC, according to SteamDB. The 314,634 peak concurrent users on Tuesday is a huge spike in playership and participation, but it’s about 2,000 short of the all-time peak of 316,750 set when the Lightfall expansion dropped in February 2023.

Though impressive, it’s still just one slice out of a game that is also available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. If nothing else, the jump in player numbers indicates The Final Shape will be a hit among players for reasons more than simple nostalgia.

Some Destiny 2 players did find long queue times and server sign-on issues on Tuesday afternoon, which were officially acknowledged by the game’s official X account and followed by “background maintenance” to help servers bear the load. In any case, the game was still able to support 300,000 players logging in on PC, with even more coming in later in the day from the consoles.

 

Destiny 2: The Final Shape, culminating the light-versus-darkness conflict that has built up in the sci-fi shooter adventure since 2014 with the first Destiny, launched on June 4, although a slip-up with PlayStation 5’s cloud streaming capabilities did leak the expansion early on that platform. (It was quickly fixed.) It is the game’s sixth major expansion, and was delayed from its original launch date in February.

The expansion introduces a new character subclass, Prismatic, as well as the usual spread of new weapons, gear, and other loot. A new enemy species “The Dread” will confront players as they approach a final showdown with the Destiny canon’s big bad, The Witness.

The expansion’s raid, always a major event for diehard fans, will go live on June 7. We have much more about the expansion and what it entails for those interested.

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The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Owen Good
Gaming Editor (US)

Owen Good is a 15-year veteran of video games writing, also covering pop culture and entertainment subjects for the likes of Kotaku and Polygon. He is a Gaming Editor for ReadWrite working from his home in North Carolina, the United States, joining this publication in April, 2024. Good is a 1995 graduate of North Carolina State University and a 2000 graduate of The Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, in New York. A second-generation newspaperman, Good's career before covering video games included daily newspaper stints in North Carolina; in upstate New York; in Washington, D.C., with the Associated Press; and…

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