Summary Marathon is currently in a tough spot, with negative news seemingly being reported at every stop.

Via a new report, it’s being shared that paid marketing efforts for Marathon have been scrapped entirely.

That report echoes previous information about marketing having the plug pulled before a supposed June trailer.

With the game set for a September launch, a delay has become increasingly more likely.

Ever since PlayStation and Bungie held their major gameplay reveal for Marathon back in April, things have seemingly gone downhill at every stop. To start, in the initial hours following the Marathon presentation, Bungie had to respond to concerns about the game’s still unreported pricing. Then, it was revealed that the game won’t have proximity chat, a key feature of extraction shooters.

Related Marathon Is The Casual Extraction Shooter No One Wants Marathon takes the friction out of the extraction shooter genre, but the friction is what gives the genre its depth.

If that wasn’t enough, Bungie scrapped the Closed Alpha NDA requirement following mixed responses to the game. And if all of that wasn’t enough, then an artist accused Bungie of plagiarizing her artwork, a claim that Bungie confirmed was true.

As a result, morale is in a “free-fall,” according to a recent report, with employees describing the environment surrounding the live-service title as “actively hostile.” All of that has put Marathon, a game that will reportedly need to be one of 2025s top five best-selling games to be considered a success, in a bad spot. Now, further reporting has suggested that things have only gotten worse.

Marathon Is Taking Heavy Blows Left And Right

As first reported by The Game Post, paid marketing for Marathon has apparently been canceled altogether. The information was first relayed by ex-IGN editor and current PlayStation podcaster Colin Moriarty, who reported the information via a person familiar with marketing.

“I was told by someone familiar with marketing plans in a key overseas market that there are now no plans to do paid marketing for Marathon at all,” Moriarty reportedly said. “I don’t know if those plans were affected by what has recently happened or if that was always the plan or whatever. But it is considered a fairly unusual move for a game of this high profile.”

Moriarty’s reporting echoes what Paul Tassi of Forbes reported a week ago that Bungie had pulled the plug on the “main” marketing plan for Marathon, which would have reportedly included a trailer next month, along with the opening of preorders to gamers. Those plans are apparently being reworked.

The developments have created a scenario in which Marathon could potentially be delayed from its planned September launch. Both Sony and Bungie cannot afford another bomb, and the environment surrounding the game is getting more and more negative.

The vibes have never been worse

After the recent controversy with Bungie, it seems that there are now Marathon delay rumors suggesting that the game might slip into 2026.

The employee morale is at an all-time low over the plagiarism troubles and mixed alpha test feedback. Let’s check out more details in this article.

“The vibes have never been worse.”Morale at Bungie is reportedly at an all-time low with devs worried about Marathon’s futureThey allegedly cancelled an entire marketing campaign scheduled for Junevia Forbes pic.twitter.com/vG9YhtUSje — Dexerto (@Dexerto) May 17, 2025

Marathon delay & marketing plans scrapped

Bungie has already cancelled its plans for the June trailer and pre-order campaign, shifting its August public beta to a series of playtests, per Forbes.

For now, although it’s not official, rumors are already circulating that Sony and Bungie executives might be discussing about Marathon delay to 2026.

Art theft controversy

The whole turmoil began when artist ANTIREAL accused Bungie of using her 2017 artwork in Marathon’s closed alpha.

This claim is already admitted by Bungie and has been blamed on a former employee. The studio pledged to “do the right thing” for the artist, but the damage had already occurred.

This is the fourth reported plagiarism occurrence in five years, according to Forbes, triggering considerable criticism of Marathon’s art direction.

This is not just simple plagiarism. They have copied the whole art style. ANTIREAL, who released multiple comparisons of her work to existing Bungie Marathon assets that go much beyond “inspiration” and are frequently straight 1:1 lifts of images, words, symbols, and even ANTIREAL’s personal logo.

They even pasted the original artist watermark in the actual in-game texture as well.

Also Read: Red Dead Redemption 2 rumored for Nintendo Switch 2 & next-gen upgrade

the Marathon alpha released recently and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs i made in 2017.@Bungie @josephacross pic.twitter.com/0Csbo48Jgb — N² (@4nt1r34l) May 15, 2025

Morale in “Free Fall”

According to Forbes, they describe that Bungie’s morale has hit an all-time low and the vibes have never been worse in the studio.

Developers are fearing that this controversy and the Marathon failure could jeopardize the studio, especially after Sony’s $3.6 billion acquisition and the Concord disaster.

There are also rumors about the Marathon delay and after getting the mixed reaction from the alpha test feedback, calling the game “Flat.”

Five years ago, developers warned leadership about the game’s future and advocated for PvE, but they were dismissed, according to Tassi.

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