Bungie's Marathon Finally Emerges From the Shadows to Tease… Something

Remember Marathon? It's the next game from Destiny developer Bungie, and it looks like we're finally about to see more of it.

Marathon is a PvP-focused extraction shooter set on the mysterious planet of Tau Ceti IV. Players take on the roles of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries engineered to withstand 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 released an extensive development update video that provided insight into the game's mechanics, though it emphasized that the game was still in its early stages. At that time, player character models were still being finalized, and enemy models were in their preliminary phase.

Now, half a year later, Bungie appears ready to unveil more of their work. A tweet from the official Marathon account featured a cryptic image and accompanying garbled signal noise. Fans noticed 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 more to uncover, and the community is already on the case.

Despite these developments, Marathon's journey has been fraught with challenges. Revealed in May 2023 as a reboot of the classic Bungie franchise, it promised themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." However, Bungie has faced significant controversies, including the layoff of 220 staff members in July 2024, representing 17% of its workforce. This move drew criticism even from industry peers. It followed less than a year after another 100 layoffs, with staff describing the studio's atmosphere as "soul-crushing."

Further controversy emerged 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 subsequently sued Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bungie for over $200 million.

This all unfolds as Sony reevaluates its strategy regarding live-service games. Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced in November 2023 that the company planned to launch only six out of the 12 live service games it was developing by March 2026. This shift in focus led to the cancellation of The Last of Us multiplayer game.

While Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 became a breakout success, selling 12 million copies in just 12 weeks and becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever, Sony's other live service efforts either faced cancellation or disastrous launches. Notably, Sony's Concord was one of the biggest flops in PlayStation history, lasting mere weeks before being taken offline due to low player counts. 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 by the team behind Days Gone at Bend Studio.