Slay the Spire 2 dev throws playful shade at Marathon after flying past its player count on the Steam charts — "Don't let small indie passion projects like this pass you by"

Today, March 5, is quite a big day in the world of video games. Not only did Bungie — now owned by PlayStation maker Sony after its acquisition of the studio in 2022 — officially launch its high-profile, long-awaited sci-fi extraction shooter Marathon this morning across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5, but indie developer Mega Crit also released its highly anticipated roguelike deckbuilding sequel Slay the Spire 2 in Early Access as well.

Of the two games, I'd forgive you for assuming Marathon is enjoying the bigger launch right now, especially with the crazy success of ARC Raiders proving just how mainstream extraction shooters — a traditionally niche genre — can get. But in truth, Slay the Spire 2 has actually blown up far more, at least on Steam.

Indeed, the Steam charts show that Marathon's launch player count has peaked at 86,718 concurrent players, while Slay the Spire 2's is 177,362, just over double that. Notably, Slay the Spire 2 is only on PC right now, so Marathon's availability on Xbox and PS5 is likely giving it a larger launch day player base overall. Still, though, the performance of Mega Crit's new indie title is incredibly impressive.

Comically, the studio actually posted a congratulations to Bungie for its release of Marathon as both games launched, with Mega Crit throwing playful shade at the studio and calling it a "small indie passion project."

"Congratulations to the Marathon team on their launch!" wrote the developer on social media. "Don't let small indie passion projects like this pass you by just because Slay the Spire 2 is out," it continued, along with a cheeky little heart emoji. No chill, man.

Of course, this is clearly all in good fun, though I will say I wasn't expecting Slay the Spire 2's launch day numbers to eclipse Marathon's like this. It goes to show just how popular the fantasy deckbuilding franchise truly is; Slay the Spire's fan base is as large as it is passionate, which is to say: very.

None of this is to scorn Marathon, by the way. On the contrary, I think it's off to a solid start so far, and very much want the reboot of Bungie's classic franchise to succeed. Admittedly, I'm not really much of a PvP player in general, but playing the Marathon Server Slam with my friends got me hooked on exploring and battling in its dark, yet vibrant and atmospheric world.

Both games are reviewing positively with players so far, with 89% of Marathon's 1,740 user reviews on Steam giving it a blue thumbs up and 94% of Slay the Spire 2's 1,402 reviews positive. This means that at the time of writing, both have a "Very Positive" rating.

Marathon is available across Xbox Series X|S, Steam PC, and PS5 for $39.99 (you can get it for just $33.89 at Loaded on PC), and notably has full support for crossplay and cross save. Launch kicked off its first season, which runs until June and will bring a new endgame Cryo Archive map the community needs to unlock along with a ranked mode, a new weapon, and more.

Slay the Spire 2, meanwhile, is only on PC while it's in Early Access, with Mega Crit expecting the title to remain so for the next year or two. It appears that the game has everything fans loved about the original, plus some big additions like new characters, support for co-op up to four players, and more.

Are you playing these new games?

The arrival of both Marathon and Slay the Spire 2 begs the question: are you playing either of these games right now, or do you plan to? Or perhaps you're going to play both? I'd love to hear from you, so let me know in the comments.

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Marathon (Steam, PC): was $39.99 now $33.89 at loaded.com

Bungie's new futuristic extraction shooter Marathon has made quite a comeback, and is off to a solid start at launch. It's officially out now, and on PC, you can get it for less thanks to these Loaded (CDKeys) deals.

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Deluxe Edition: $50.79 at Loaded (PC)
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