Remember Marathon? It's the highly anticipated next game from Destiny developer Bungie, and it seems we're on the verge of getting a deeper look into this exciting new title. Marathon is set to be a PvP-focused extraction shooter, taking place on the mysterious planet of Tau Ceti IV. In this game, players will take on the roles of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries designed to endure the planet's harsh 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. In October, Bungie shared a comprehensive development update video, providing insights into the game's mechanics but emphasizing that it was still in the early stages of development. At that time, player character models were still being refined, and enemy models were in a preliminary state.
Now, half a year 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 alongside a garbled signal noise. Fans have quickly pointed out the ASCII art, which seems to be 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 meaning behind it all.
It's clear that Marathon is finally making progress after a challenging development period. The game was initially revealed in May 2023 as a reboot of the classic Bungie franchise, promising themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." However, Bungie has faced numerous challenges, 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, which left the studio's atmosphere "soul-crushing," according to staff who spoke to IGN.
Further controversy 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. Barrett later filed a lawsuit against Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bungie for over $200 million.
AnswerSee ResultsAll of this unfolds as Sony reevaluates its strategy regarding live-service games. In November 2023, Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced that the company would focus on launching only six out of the twelve planned live service games by March 2026. This shift in strategy led to the cancellation of The Last of Us multiplayer game.
While Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 became a massive success, selling 12 million copies in just 12 weeks and becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever, Sony's other live service efforts faced significant challenges. Concord, for instance, became one of the biggest flops in PlayStation history, surviving only a few weeks before being taken offline due to extremely low player numbers. Sony ultimately decided to terminate the game and close its developer.
Earlier this year, Sony reportedly canceled two more unannounced live service games: one from Bluepoint, which was working on a God of War title, and another from Bend, the developer behind Days Gone.
