Remember Marathon? It's the next big project from Destiny developer Bungie, and it looks like we're finally going to see more of it soon. Marathon is a PvP-focused extraction shooter set on the mysterious planet of Tau Ceti IV. Players will take on the roles of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries engineered 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. Back in October, Bungie released a detailed development update video that provided insights into the game's mechanics, but also emphasized how early in development Marathon still was. At that time, player character models were still "coming together," and enemy models were in an "early state."
Now, half a year later, it appears Bungie is ready to showcase what they've been working on. A tweet from the official Marathon account revealed a cryptic image accompanied by garbled signal noise. Fans have noticed ASCII art resembling 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 on the case.
pic.twitter.com/6NBgIdRVK2
— Marathon (@MarathonTheGame) April 4, 2025
Marathon was revealed in May 2023 as a reboot of the classic Bungie franchise, focusing on themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." However, Bungie has faced numerous challenges in recent years, including the layoff of 220 staff members in July 2024, which represented 17% of its workforce and drew criticism from industry peers. This followed another round of 100 layoffs at Bungie less than a year earlier, with staff describing the atmosphere as "soul crushing" 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 at Bungie. Barrett subsequently filed a lawsuit against Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bungie, seeking over $200 million in damages.
AnswerSee ResultsThese developments coincide with Sony's strategic shift away from live-service games. In November 2023, Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced the company's commitment to launching only six out of the 12 live service games planned by March 2026. This shift 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, other Sony live service titles faced cancellations or disastrous launches. Notably, Sony's Concord was a significant failure, lasting 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 being a God of War title developed by Bluepoint and another from Days Gone developer Bend.
