Few events in Destiny 2 garner as much hype as the release of a new raid. It isn't just an opportunity for players to return to Destiny 2 and tackle new challenges, but also the game's biggest online competitive event. Raiding teams from across the world race to be the first to complete the new raid. It's no surprise then that viewers across the world are tuning in to Destiny 2 raid race Twitch streams in massive numbers. The latest total has Destiny streaming viewers crossing over 230,000.

The event at hand is the launch of Destiny 2's Vault of Glass raid. Or, to be more accurate, the rerelease of the Vault of Glass raid from the original Destiny. Bungie's bringing back the first raid ever released for the franchise as an updated experience for Destiny 2's Season of the Splicer. It's easy to understand why the Vault of Glass launch is so popular, too, considering it's not just a nostalgic return to a classic raid, but also a new, challenging experience for hardcore players.

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The Vault of Glass officially launched at 10:00 am PT/1:00 pm ET in a worldwide launch. Within thirty minutes it had crossed 150,000 viewers on Twitch. Within the hour it was above 230,000 viewers, where it started to plateau. The two top Twitch streamers, both with a maximum of around 50,000 viewers, are Gladd of Clan Redeem and streamer/YouTuber Datto.

Progression through the Vault of Glass raid has moved rapidly. This could be due to familiarity with some of the base ideas that make up the raid's encounters, even if they've been altered in small and large ways. Regardless, Gladd's group is currently making progression on the final boss, Atheon, already. The race is all but certain to be decided relatively quickly, barring a secret extra encounter or another surprise cropping up.

While the Vault of Glass raid rerelease is certainly a hype event drawing out significant Twitch viewership, it's not necessarily a peak compared to previous events. Twitch viewership climbed to over 400,000 on November 21, 2020, with the release of the Deep Stone Crypt raid. It hit almost 290,000 on June 9, 2020, with the reveal of Destiny 2's latest season.

This won't be the last race for Vault of Glass, either, though it's certain to be the most high profile. Sometime after the race concludes, whether it's weeks or months later, Bungie plans to add a Master Difficulty for the Vault of Glass that will prove even more challenging. A release date is pending. Bungie is always pushing its Destiny 2 players to bigger and more epic battles.

Destiny 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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