Trending Now - Marathon and Slay the Spire 2 Break Records Despite Hurdles

WHO:

Casey Yano, co-founder and developer at MegaCrit, the studio behind Slay the Spire 2.

Bungie, the developer of Marathon.

MegaCrit, the studio that developed Slay the Spire 2.

Cozmo, Bungie community manager.

WHAT:

Slay the Spire 2 launched on March 5, 2026, on Steam.

Slay the Spire 2 achieved a peak of 430,456 concurrent players on launch day.

Marathon reached a peak of 88,337 concurrent players on the same day.

MegaCrit's tweet congratulating the Marathon team was viewed over half a million times.

Marathon received a 4.77 rating based on 3,000 reviews on the PS Store.

Marathon has 'Very Positive' reviews on Steam.

Slay the Spire 2 set a new record for the highest concurrent player count for a roguelike on Steam, tripling the previous record of 115,428 set by Mewgenics on February 15, 2026.

WHERE:

Slay the Spire 2 and Marathon launched on Steam.

Marathon is also available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

WHEN:

Slay the Spire 2 launched on March 5, 2026.

The peak concurrent player count for Slay the Spire 2 occurred around 9 a.m. EDT on March 5, 2026.

Mewgenics set its record on February 15, 2026.

Hades 2 set its record in September 2025.

WHY:

The success of Slay the Spire 2 is attributed to the popularity of the original game and strong word of mouth.

The tweet from MegaCrit was intended as a light-hearted jab but was perceived as meaner than intended.

HOW:

Slay the Spire 2's launch caused temporary outages on Steam, lasting about half an hour.

On March 5, 2026, MegaCrit launched Slay the Spire 2 on Steam, achieving a remarkable peak of 430,456 concurrent players, which set a new record for the highest player count for a roguelike game on the platform. Meanwhile, Bungie's Marathon also debuted that day, reaching 88,337 concurrent players and earning a 4.77 rating on the PlayStation Store based on 3,000 reviews. MegaCrit's tweet congratulating the Marathon team gained over half a million views, although it was seen by some as harsher than intended, and the launch of Slay the Spire 2 caused temporary outages on Steam for about half an hour.