Marathon vs Arc Raiders: I Played Both, Here's My Answer

Arc Raiders just jumped back over 130,000 players on Steam. Marathon is sitting around 4,000. I played both a lot, one of them I quit, the other one almost made me quit twice, and at the end I give you a real answer. Arc Raiders turned one on October 8 with Frozen Trail and went from a 34,045 daily peak back up to 131,388. Marathon wiped everyone on October 6 with the Nightfall Refresh, and Bungie's Symbiosis update on December 8 adds Marathon's first permanent PvE mode. Arc Raiders is testing a PvP-off mode October 13 to 20. Both games are moving toward PvE. Be honest, did Marathon ever click for you, or did you quit before it did? 0:00 Arc Raiders 130K vs Marathon 4K 0:28 The rules nobody tells you in Arc Raiders 1:41 Tense the whole game (and why I left) 3:11 Marathon: Bungie, but extraction 4:19 The barrier to entry 5:33 When Marathon clicks (and the PvE news) 6:53 My verdict Sources Steam player counts: SteamCharts and Steam (Oct 8 to Oct 11, 2026); Arc Raiders all-time peak 481,966 (SteamDB via The Game Post) Twitch viewers: Twitch, evening of Oct 10, 2026 Steam reviews: Steam store, Oct 11, 2026 Bungie, Nightfall Refresh and Symbiosis Roadmap (Oct 6, 2026): https://www.bungie.net/7/en/News/Arti... Marathon dev team post (Oct 9, 2026): https://bsky.app/profile/marathonteam... Arc Raiders, Frozen Trail is live: https://arcraiders.com/news/frozen-tr... Arc Raiders, PvE toggle beta test: https://arcraiders.com/it/news/pve-to... Insider Gaming, Arc Raiders player count (Oct 8, 2026): https://insider-gaming.com/arc-raider... Gameplay: Embark Studios (ARC Raiders official trailers), Bungie (Marathon official trailers and Future of Marathon), PlayStation, Royal Gaming, NoAnnoyingCommentary, HIRO (no-commentary gameplay). Destiny footage: Bungie. Music: ARC Raiders Original Soundtrack (Patrik Andrén, Johan Söderqvist); Marathon Original Soundtrack (Ryan Lott). Not affiliated with Embark Studios, Nexon, Bungie or Sony. Instagram: @theinspectorplay