Today’s big news around Destiny was just part of a larger announcement from the developers at Bungie, which reiterated its plans to continue improving its extraction shooter, Marathon.
Bungie said today that it plans to expand Marathon into “a deeper survival experience,” including the addition of a full-time PvE mode, potential new PvP game types, and the traditional PvPvE modes that players have already come to know.
“Through the remainder of Marathon’s first year, we will continue strengthening its combat, world, and competitive tension while giving players more agency in how they engage with the game,” Bungie said. “That means creating meaningful experiences whether you prefer cooperative PvE, competitive PvP, or the unpredictable tension of Marathon PvPvE. It’s important to us that no matter your playstyle, or your skill level…. we find better ways to hear from you as we get back to where we need to be: making games you want to play.”
There’s no getting around the fact that Marathon has underperformed in expectations for both Bungie and Sony, but the game has the basis of something strong underneath the extraction shooter barrier, and so the work on it will continue at least through March, which would mark the game’s first anniversary.
That work truly begins in October with a Nightfall Refresh and continues with a large-scale Symbiosis update in December, bucking the game’s original plans of consistent seasonal content. The game’s third season was due to begin sometime this month.
“Marathon is an important part of shaping where Bungie goes next, but it was never intended to replace Destiny,” Bungie said today. “The game launched to strong critical reception, and the players who embraced Marathon connected deeply with what makes it distinct. At the same time, it did not reach as many players as we had hoped, and we also know and understand that the game needs to evolve.”
I’m admittedly quite skeptical of Marathon’s chances of catching on enough to sustain it in the long-term. I enjoyed the game quite a bit at launch but my interest quickly tapered off, and I’m very much so not alone in that, as anyone with access to Steam Charts will be quick to tell you.
