We have yet to hear anything substantive about Marathon from Bungie in the last year or more, only insider reports (some from me) about what the game is like. But some people are getting to experience it firsthand, and unlike many past playtests, Bungie has let a number of testers/creators reveal that they were invited. And the range of them is…interesting.
Bungie’s rules here appear to be that they are allowed to talk about the “experience” rather than comment on the quality of the game, and of course they are all very excited Bungie flew them out to its HQ to test a game. I’ve done that, it’s very fun!
Who exactly went out? I’ve seen Tarkov players, Destiny players, Halo players, Rainbow Six Siege players, Apex Legends players, Deadlock players. I even saw a guy who appears to main…Sea of Thieves? Sure why not.
While most players did in fact just comment on how cool the overall experience was, I saw one person say that the game was “going to be a BANGER” which I’m…pretty sure you’re not supposed to say, even if it’s positive.
I do believe we’re going to hear something about Marathon before the end of the year, maybe pretty soon if these publicly announced playtests just happened. Then a full breakdown in 2025 when the game is supposed to launch in full. Supposed to.
My past reporting based on sources with explicit knowledge say that the $40 price is definitely happening, not dissuaded by Concord and more influenced by the success of Helldivers 2. The “hero” idea appears to be most similar to Apex Legends, characters with unique personalities and abilities, but obviously gear for the extraction game will be picked up around the map.
It is obviously a huge, huge risk to be launching a brand new multiplayer IP in the current market, though Marathon has a better shot than most with Bungie’s shooter mechanics that are still some of the industry’s best, and a really eye-catching aesthetic which was the main thing Concord struggled with. How a AAA extraction game lands in a market mainly relegated to Tarkov remains unclear, and this is also what is effectively a new IP to most players given that the original Marathon released in 1994, before most of the game’s new target audience was born. Probably many of these playtesters, too.
I have not secretly played the game, I only know what I hear, and that is that Marathon is “make or break” for a beleaguered Bungie, though they did say that about Destiny’s The Final Shape as well. As good as that expansion was, layoffs still followed. I hope they can score a win this time, though I have my doubts about a full 2025 release being in the cards. We’ll see.
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