Bungie's Marathon: A Glimpse of Something New

Remember Marathon? It's the next big project from Destiny developer Bungie, and it seems we're on the cusp of getting a deeper look into this eagerly awaited game.

Marathon is set to be a thrilling PvP-focused extraction shooter, taking place on the enigmatic planet of Tau Ceti IV. Players will step into the shoes of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries engineered to withstand the planet's unforgiving conditions, as they explore the remnants of a lost colony on Tau Ceti's surface.

It's been a while since we last heard about Marathon. Back in October, Bungie shared a detailed development update video, giving us a glimpse into the game's mechanics. However, they emphasized that the game was still in its early stages. At that time, player character models were still being refined, and enemy models were in their preliminary phase.

Now, six months later, it appears Bungie is gearing up to unveil more about what they've been working on. A recent tweet from the official Marathon account featured a cryptic image accompanied by distorted signal noise. Fans have spotted ASCII art reminiscent of footage from the debut Marathon trailer. Given Bungie's reputation for mysterious teasers, hidden clues, and Easter eggs, there's likely much more to uncover, and the community is already diving in to decipher the message.

This development comes after a challenging period for Marathon. The game was first revealed in May 2023 as a reboot of the classic Bungie franchise, promising themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." However, Bungie has faced significant controversies in recent years, including the layoff of 220 staff members in July 2024, which accounted for 17% of its workforce. This move drew criticism from industry peers and came less than a year after another round of 100 layoffs, with staff describing the atmosphere at the studio as "soul-crushing."

Further turmoil arose when a report surfaced weeks after the 220 job cuts, alleging that former Marathon director Chris Barrett was fired following an internal misconduct investigation at Bungie. Barrett subsequently filed a lawsuit against Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bungie, seeking over $200 million in damages.

These events unfold as Sony reevaluates its focus on live-service games. In November 2023, Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced that the company would launch only six of the 12 live service games it had in development by March 2026, marking a strategic shift that led to the cancellation of The Last of Us multiplayer game.

While Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 achieved remarkable success, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game with 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks, other Sony live service titles faced cancellations or disastrous launches. Notably, Sony's Concord became one of the biggest video game flops in PlayStation history, surviving only a few weeks before being taken offline due to extremely low player numbers. Sony eventually decided to terminate the game and shut down its developer.

Earlier this year, Sony reportedly canceled two unannounced live service games, one a God of War title being developed by Bluepoint, and another at Days Gone developer Bend.

Are you excited for Marathon?