Bungie's new extraction shooter, Marathon, is still trying to find its footing as the latest triple-A multiplayer shooter on the market. While it's been critically praised by many (myself included), it seemingly hasn't reached the level of commercial success that Bungie or PlayStation Studios hoped it would reach. Despite that, Bungie isn't letting on that it has any concerns about Marathon, and in a recent interview has just re-emphasized how it has long-term plans for the game.
As we continue to see multiplayer games launch with plenty of excitement and hullabaloo, only to die within a year for a myriad of reasons (i.e. XDefiant, Highguard, Concord), the launch of any new multiplayer game is cause for concern and caution from players. Is it worth spending time and money on if it won't be around in a year? That's a fair question, especially when the game isn't free-to-play, which is the case for Marathon.
Bungie's answer to players, even amid the game's concurrent player numbers on Steam consistently remaining below 35K over the last month, and plenty of confusion about how successful the game has been in terms of sales, is once again that yes, Marathon will be around for years to come.
Back in March, Bungie told players, "While we are very proud of what we have accomplished with the overall look and feel of the game since Alpha, we are in it for the long haul with Marathon. We look forward to many years of steady improvements to every aspect of the game. Thank you for taking this journey with us!"
Now, in a new interview with GamesRadar, creative director Julia Nardin re-emphasized that point of being in it 'for the long haul,' when saying that they already have the game's narrative laid out for the next few years. "We know where we want to take the story over the next few years," Nardin said, "but I don't want to say it's completely 'locked in' because it's important to us that our players be able to help shape it."
Marathon's player base has already been a part of shaping the game, as Bungie has made several significant changes in past updates in response to how players are shaping the meta, and we're still only two months into the game's life on store shelves. It's not surprising that Bungie is taking the same approach with the game's narrative.
It is, of course, reassuring for Marathon fans, myself included, to hear that Bungie has plans in place for the next few years of Marathon, that the studio is seemingly making a point about sharing that it has those plans laid out. But Bungie wouldn't be the first, nor would it be the last studio to profess and display confidence at every turn, right up until they can't keep the façade going anymore.
It'll be interesting to see where Marathon is when it reaches its one-year anniversary. Hopefully, it has a stronger sense of its place in the market by then, and we aren't as concerned with whether it'll survive another year.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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