The recent launch of Bungie’s shooter Marathon sparked excitement in the gaming world, but when it comes to concurrent players, it still trails behind an enduring staple of the genre-Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). On Marathon’s release day, it hit a peak of 88,337 players on Steam, while CS:GO, despite being years old, consistently pulls in over 50,000 players simultaneously.
Marathon, released on March 5, 2026, is a multiplayer action shooter set on the planet Tau Ceti IV. The game is available across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S platforms.
Meanwhile, CS:GO’s player base remains impressively strong. Valve recently reintroduced the game to Steam’s recommended section, spiking its online numbers to above 50,000 concurrent users and pushing it to 27th place among all Steam games by this metric.
Notably, Marathon has faced its share of criticism, especially around its monetization model-players have expressed discontent with its battle pass system and restrictions on cosmetic item use.
So despite its fresh release and high hopes, Marathon hasn’t yet overtaken CS:GO in player popularity. That said, future patches and tweaks could help Marathon carve out a stronger foothold in the competitive multiplayer shooter landscape.
For Russian gamers, the rivalry marks a fascinating moment: CS:GO is not just a global phenomenon but also deeply embedded in the local esports and gaming culture, a factor that adds extra weight to Marathon’s challenge as a newcomer.
On a global scale, this highlights how legacy titles maintain relevance years after their release, thanks to community loyalty and ongoing developer support-something Marathon will need to match to become truly competitive.