Destiny 2 fans launch counter-attack amid bungie's marathon shift
A furious wave of negative reviews is crashing against the Steam page for bungie’s Marathon, fueled by frustrated Destiny 2 players convinced the studio is abandoning their beloved franchise.
A year of disappointment, a sudden pivot
The backlash began following bungie’s announcement of Marathon’s June release date, a move widely interpreted as signaling the definitive end of Destiny 2 after twelve years. Longtime fans, already grappling with a perceived lack of substantial content and a looming lack of a promised Destiny 3, reacted with a palpable sense of betrayal. The Marathon Steam page quickly became inundated with scathing reviews, many explicitly referencing the demise of Destiny 2 – phrases like ‘you killed my favorite game’ and ‘RIP D2’ were commonplace.
These weren’t casual complaints; the reviewers overwhelmingly represented players who had invested significant time in Marathon, ranging from less than an hour to a staggering 50+ hours. The sentiment was clear: Marathon arrived as a consequence of bungie’s strategic shift, a direct result of prioritizing the extraction-shooter revival.
A digital siege – and a counter-offensive
But the community isn’t backing down. A coordinated effort is underway, with fans flooding Marathon’s Steam page with a deluge of positive reviews – a deliberate and surprisingly effective counter-campaign. Valve’s internal data reveals a stark contrast; while the initial surge of negative reviews dominated the first day of the backlash, positive reviews now significantly outnumber them, standing at 70% of the total reviews as of May 22, 2026.
Reddit fuels the fire
The response wasn’t confined to Steam. A prominent Reddit post, born from the immediate aftermath of bungie's announcement, galvanized the community. The post, bluntly stating “Sad but true,” urged fans to champion Marathon with positive reviews, framing it as the only viable path to securing the future of the franchise – and potentially, the survival of bungie itself.
One user succinctly captured the prevailing sentiment: “It’s ironic because the only road to seeing a D3 is if Marathon manages to survive. If Marathon dies an early death, so does Bungie.” The stakes, it seems, couldn’t be higher.
Beyond the reviews: a game in transition
Destiny 2, launched in 2014, followed by the expansive Destiny 2 in 2017, now awaits its final major content update this June. Marathon, launched in March 2026, initially garnered critical acclaim – IGN awarded it a 9/10 – yet failed to meet pre-launch expectations. Despite ongoing development, including promises of expanded PvE content and a compelling narrative roadmap, the future remains uncertain. Bungie insists Marathon possesses significant potential, but the current review-bombing incident underscores the deep-seated anxieties surrounding the franchise’s trajectory. Michael Cripe, IGN’s freelance writer – a name you might recognize from The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP – believes this episode highlights a crucial point: player engagement, even in the face of disappointment, can be a powerful, and surprisingly effective, tool.