Bungie’s live-service shooter Marathon is not coming out on time. The developer has confirmed that Marathon will miss its September 23 release date and has been delayed to an unspecified point in the future.
“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,” Bungie said in a blog post.
Bungie added that the Marathon alpha test gave the studio a chance to “calibrate and focus the game on what will make it uniquely compelling.”
“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 said.
The developer added that it will spend the “next few months” testing Marathon in a closed environment to refine and improve the experience before its public launch.
Below are some of the areas that Bungie is aiming to improve upon for Marathon, as written by the developer:
- 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 said it will circle back this fall and “share the progress we’ve made.” Also at this time, the developer said it will reveal the new release date.
“Thank you again for your patience and–much more importantly–your passion. Your continued feedback will help us make Marathon the incredible gaming experience we all know it can be,” Bungie said.
The announcement of Marathon’s delay comes not long after Bungie owner Sony said it remained committed to pursuing live-service projects even amid some stumbles. The company said it had put new systems in place to help ensure Marathon doesn’t suffer the same fate as Concord.
PlayStation boss Hermen Hulst said feedback from Marathon’s latest alpha test was “varied,” but Sony maintains that the live-service category remains a “great opportunity” for the company. Concord, Hulst said, was “insufficiently differentiated” in a “hyper-competitive segment” of gaming, referring to live-service multiplayer games.
“We have reviewed our processes in light of this to deeply understand how and why that title failed to meet expectations and to ensure we’re not going to make the same mistakes again,” he said.
For Marathon, Hulst said the aim is to create a “very bold, very innovative, and deeply engaging title.” The response to the Marathon alpha test was mixed, and Hulst said the whole idea of offering early tests is to gain feedback that can then be used to improve the product.
“This cycle of test, of iterate, test again, that is such a key component of the live-service success, both leading up to launch but also throughout the life of the game,” he said.
Hulst did not, however, comment on the controversy surrounding Marathon as it relates to Bungie admitting it found stolen art assets in Marathon.
GameSpot’s Marathon preview said, “In a world of free-to-play titles, a paid game that is light on content but full of hopes, dreams, and ambitions may not be enough to inspire in others the same confidence I have in Bungie.”
