Bungie, the team behind the successful game as a service hit Destiny 1 and 2, revealed their upcoming sci-fi extraction shooter to the world over the weekend. Giving fans a look into their new game Marathon as they sat down with the team to discuss the development of the game, features and more.
The team-based extraction shooter will have players play as a mercenary who has given up their human self to become a biosynthetic shell with unique abilities and stats to become what are known as “Runners.” Players form a crew of three to battle against up to 18 other players in each zone. You can learn more details and the release date of the game here.
One question fans had that wasn’t revealed during the Marathon Showcase was just how much the game would be or if Bungie was going to choose the popular free-to-play model. Marathon revealed over on their X account that: “Marathon will be a premium title. Marathon will not be a ‘full-priced’ title.” More details will follow this summer.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Are we about to get into another Concord situation? Concord was released back in August 2023 and, in an unprecedented move by Sony, Concord was removed permanently from the online stores 2 weeks later due to the lack of an install base for the $40 game. Will Marathon follow suit? Should Marathon be a free-to-play game? The game will rely on players to keep Marathon moving forward and Bungie will need to do whatever they can to keep players coming back, day in and day out. Placing a price on Marathon could be the end, before they even begin.
Did Sony not learn anything from Concord’s short shelf life by placing a price on the game? Bungie has even gone as far as making Destiny free-to-play. As Sony looks to try and build their games of a service model, they don’t appear to be lining themselves up very well for success. We’ll just have to wait and see how adding a price model to Marathon will pay off in the end.
Let us know in the comments what you think Sony and Bungie should do with Marathon. How much do you think Marathon will cost?
