What Bungie Will Add To ‘Marathon’ After Its Announced Delay
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What Bungie Will Add To ‘Marathon’ After Its Announced Delay
Bungie announced Marathon would no longer hit its September 23, 2025 release date. The game is too far along and too important for both Bungie and Sony to just throw in the towel now. Bungie has written a list of what is being worked on during this Marathon delay period, and I thought it was a good time to go through and analyze each point. Let’s get going: What are the things Bungie is working on during the delay period? We’ll see.Follow me on Twitter on Twitter @Tarkovov. I’m not changing my ultimate conclusion that Marathon won’t be released on September 23. I do not believe Marathon is going to be cancelled. I am trying to be a bit more positive here than normal, but I’m not changing that at all. I remain skeptical that this is as big a draw for Marathon as people make out, given how it will function in its non-TARKov non-combat combat loop, but yes, the game should have the option, at least at least a little.
Marathon isn’t cancelled. I do not believe Marathon is going to be cancelled. Even if yesterday, Bungie announced that Marathon would no longer hit its September 23, 2025 release date, with no new date given, that’s not what’s happening. The game is too far along and too important for both Bungie and Sony to just throw in the towel now.
As such, Bungie has now written a list of what is being worked on during this Marathon delay period, and I thought it was a good time to go through and analyze each point. Let’s get going:
Upping the Survival Game
More challenging and engaging AI encounters – This is something Bungie already touched on during the Alpha itself, testing out more intense enemy AI, and they reiterated that in the last livestream. A robust, more pervasive AI presence is something that could differentiate it from competitors and at least fulfill some PvE wishes from sections of its potential playerbase. We also have to remember more AI factions are coming, like the Pfhor, and they may be here by the new release date, perhaps.
More rewarding runs, with new types of loot and dynamic events – We were always getting “new types of loot” with the Alpha holding a lot back, but I’m wondering if this means things like extra high-end, special perk gear, or even something like new equipment slots. And more rewarding gear would perhaps help you to take more away even with shorter runs. More dynamic events could be things like weather or enemy drops or more things to engage with, like supply drops, all welcome.
Making combat more tense and strategic – I very much take this as leaning into the harder core aspects of the extraction genre, moving away from feeling like a slower Apex Legends and more into “tactical” engagements. Bungie has touched on this already, talking about moving the gap between super-geared players and lower-geared players together so it’s less of an auto-stomp. Still, I do not take this as an effort to make the game more casual, but the opposite.
Bungie
Doubling Down on the Marathon Universe
Increased visual fidelity – I mean, this one was obvious. The Alpha did not look great because it was unfinished, and a lot of stuff, mainly exteriors and player models, needed tons of work. I will be curious to see where it ends up.
More narrative and environmental storytelling to discover and interact with – There is currently very little of this in the game at all. Most narrative is contained to some vendor conversations but on the maps themselves? Adding lore there would be nice. That said, it’s difficult to make dedicated PvP players care much about lore, and it’s likely not enough to drag PvE players in to experience it, is my guess.
A darker tone that delivers on the themes of the original trilogy – I’m a little confused about this one as I do think the lore we do have is dark and has themes of the original trilogy. The main complaint about Marathon not feeling like “Marathon” is the fact that it looks and plays completely different and is an entirely different genre of game, which I can’t imagine changing. And you’re not going to make it look like that image three paragraphs above this, certainly.
Bungie
Adding more social experiences
A better player experience for solos/duos – Possibly the biggest complaint about Marathon to date has been that there is no dedicated solos playlist, meaning you have to load in by yourself against teams of threes. However, the way this is phrased does not at all confirm that’s what’s coming. Rather, Bungie did already talk about making it feel better to be solo or duo in a game. Maybe they will make solos or duos playlists, but that is not what this is necessarily saying.
Prox chat, so social stories can come to life – Everyone was pretty stunned when they realized that Bungie was making an extraction shooter without proximity chat, which is an obvious staple of the franchise. I am willing to bet the issue here was some sort of thing with Sony, given how its other games don’t have the feature either, and I don’t think it’s really a technical issue. Still, it’s allegedly coming. I remain skeptical this is as big a draw for Marathon as people make out, given how it will function in its non-Tarkov combat loop, but yes, obviously, the game should have the option, at least.
I’m trying to be a bit more positive here than normal, but I’m not changing my ultimate conclusion that all this won’t be enough. We’ll see.
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Marathon Has Been Officially Delayed –
Bungie has announced that Marathon is delayed indefinitely. The game was expected to launch later this year on September 23, 2025. Bungie says that they will continue closed testing over the next few months. There will be gameplay updates and new features that will be tested as they come online. Bungie will provide an update on the game in the Fall, including the game’s new release date. Back to Mail Online home. Backto the page you came from. Back To The page you were from.
An update from the Marathon team: https://t.co/ECtDI3Ayuv — Marathon (@MarathonTheGame) June 17, 2025
“Thank you not only for your passionate feedback around the Marathon reveal and Alpha playtest, but also for your patience while we took the time to listen closely and chart our next steps,” the Marathon Dev Team wrote.
“Through every comment and real-time conversation on social media and Discord, your voice has been strong and clear. We’ve taken this to heart, and we know we need more time to craft Marathon into the game that truly reflects your passion. After much discussion within our Dev team, we’ve made the decision to delay the September 23rd release.
The Alpha test created an opportunity for us to calibrate and focus the game on what will make it uniquely compelling—survival under pressure, mystery and lore around every corner, raid-like endgame challenges, and Bungie’s genre-defining FPS combat.
We’re using this time to empower the team to create the intense, high-stakes experience that a title like Marathon is built around. This means deepening the relationship between the developers and the game’s most important voices: our players.”
Bungie says that they will continue closed testing over the next few months which will include participants from the Alpha. There will be gameplay updates and new features that will be tested as they come online.
Bungie outlined some of the immediate areas that they plan to focus on:
Upping the Survival Game More challenging and engaging AI encounters More rewarding runs, with new types of loot and dynamic events Making combat more tense and strategic
Doubling down on the Marathon Universe Increased visual fidelity More narrative and environmental storytelling to discover and interact with A darker tone that delivers on the themes of the original trilogy
Adding more social experiences A better player experience for solo/duos Prox chat, so social stories can come to life
Bungie says that they will provide an update on the game in the Fall, including the game’s new release date.
Bungie’s Marathon has been delayed indefinitely
Bungie has announced that Marathon has been delayed indefinitely. The game was initially set to launch this September. It was revealed that the development team has decided to delay the game based on player feedback. There’s no word on a release window for Marathon, as such, we’ll have to wait for a future update from Bungie.
Since the game’s initial reveal back in 2023, we’ve seen several trailers for this upcoming extraction shooter, not to mention that it got an Alpha playtest for select players across the world to try it out. Based on the initial responses though, Marathon didn’t seem to generate as much excitement.
As such, it’s not too surprising when Bungie announced that Marathon has been delayed indefinitely. Details were shared on the official Bungie website. There, it was revealed that the development team has decided to delay the game based on player feedback, with their goal being to craft more challenging and engaging enemy encounters, give it a darker tone to better match the themes of the original games, and add features like proximity chat.
As Bungie’s next big project since Destiny 2, many gamers were intrigued by Marathon at the start, though the responses since its reveal have been a bit muted to say the least. It didn’t help that reception to the Alpha was mixed, not to mention that Bungie has been accused of plagiarism, based on the visual assets used in the playtest.
Given that PlayStation would no doubt want to avoid a repeat of Concord, it makes a lot of sense that Marathon has been delayed. Hopefully, the extra time can help the team turn the game around.
For now, there’s no word on a release window for Marathon. As such, we’ll have to wait for a future update from Bungie on when we can expect this game to come out.