Everyone who is everyone in the extraction shooter space seems to be concerned with player counts. It’s the do-or-die number that determines whether a game is going to succeed or fold in on itself like a collapsing star. In recent days, the likes of Marathon and ARC Raiders have both come under fire for having steadily decreasing player counts on Steam.
That’s the only platform on which visible player numbers can be found, by the way. Anything related to Xbox and PlayStation is firmly locked down. However, while folks are lamenting what looks like a downfall for both ARC Raiders and Marathon, they’re missing one key fact: Escape from Tarkov is outpacing them both.
The Father of Extraction Isn’t Dying As Fast
Escape from Tarkov is often dubbed the pioneer of extraction shooters, having emerged around a decade ago and been working hard to heavily popularize the concept since around 2020, when the game underwent a monumental boom.
It has been a journey laced with scandal, community drama, and flip-flop updates, but it remains the most well-known extraction title in the business, even if everything from the game’s politics to its difficulty level constantly comes under fire.
In the last few days, gamers everywhere have busied themselves talking about the downfall of extraction shooters. It’s all being blown out of proportion, but it started when some noticed that Marathon, Bungie’s new extraction game, isn’t performing very well, especially on Steam.
The game launched with an all-time peak of 88,337 players, and at the time of writing, just 8,948 were playing. The game’s 24-hour peak sat at 24,563 users. If we take the 24-hour figure, that’s a decrease of -72.2%.
ARC Raiders, Embark Studios’ whirlwind extraction adventure title that launched in October 2025, paints a similar picture.
On Steam, it has a peak player count of 481,966, and at the time of writing, a count of 44,419. In the last 24 hours, the peak was 90,138, which represents a -81.2% decrease since the peak.
Escape from Tarkov’s majority platform is Battlestate Games’ proprietary launcher, but in November 2025, the game launched on Steam. While the core player count has always remained a secret, the Steam portion of the community is visible to all.
Tarkov’s peak on Steam, secured at launch in November, was 47,800 users – a relatively paltry sum compared to the lofty heights of ARC Raiders. But at the time of writing, the game boasted 15,262 players, and a 24-hour peak of 16,541.
Not only is that more players than in Marathon in one respect, but it also represents a -65.3% decrease, beating both ARC Raiders and Marathon in the decline stakes.
It’s a marginal difference, but it’s a difference nonetheless, and it might suggest better staying power for Escape from Tarkov, which has always weathered the ebb and flow of the extraction space.
It’s also indicative of Battlestate Games’ desire to keep the game pumped with fresh content. In the last few days, players have been tussling with a new event, Casus Belli. There’s a new map on the horizon, named Icebreaker, and the game’s first major DLC, ‘Scav Life’, is being lobbied by the studio.
By contrast, players have tired of lacklustre updates in ARC Raiders and are waiting for Riven Tides, which will drop in a couple of weeks, bringing the first new map in five months. The creators have started to depart the title, such as Nadeshot, TheBurntPeanut, and Ninja, and the PvP vs. PvE debate (plus aggression-driven matchmaking) is raging.
Marathon almost fell flat out of the starting block, pulling in weak numbers, mixed reviews, and a jumbled sentiment on account of it being overly complex and unique for the sake of being unique. Losing 72% of players in just over a month isn’t a good look. Player retention means everything in this live-service space, and it looks like Tarkov is doing it better – for now.
Now, viewership figures, that’s a different topic entirely…
Do you think Escape from Tarkov will outlast ARC Raiders and Marathon, or will a resurgence bring them both up the table? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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