80%
Probable
Last month, Bungie released its first new game in years (which is technically just a reboot of an old series). Marathon, a new extraction shooter for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, takes the first sci-fi world Bungie created and brings it into the modern-day gaming landscape, and according to a new report from Paul Tassi at Forbes, Bungie put aside a fair chunk of change to make it.
In a report going over the first month of Marathon being on the market and in players hands, at the end of a list of different metrics about the game, Tassi adds, "I can confirm Marathon's budget is over $200 million. Likely more than $250 million. That does not include ongoing costs for maintenance and new content now."
It's a lot of money, but it's also not the most surprising number. Back in 2023, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 cost approximately $300 million to make. Just last month, a new report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier identified that most triple-A video game budgets are going over $300 million, most of it attributed to developer salaries.
Every year, Activision spends hundreds of millions on making its annual Call of Duty titles. But unless Black Ops 7 puts the series on an unprecedented decline, the difference between Call of Duty and Marathon is that we know Call of Duty will be back next year.
Amidst the onslaught of new and expensive-to-make live service games launching from new and storied developers only to be unceremoniously shut down a year, a month, or even just two weeks after launch, it's difficult to know if any shooter not already part of the video game industry's biggest titles can survive.
That's the cloud that hangs over Marathon, and has been hanging over it with all of the conversation around its Steam concurrent numbers (which many are more interested in than actually playing Marathon), its alleged sales (which are said to be over1.2 million copies sold). It's a hit in the sense that you don't reach a million copies sold otherwise, but is it enough to cover the astronomical (though apparently not as astronomical as others) budget it had?
And if it can't, does this mean we'll see more layoffs at Bungie? Would the game missing Sony and Bungie's sales expectations be a sign that we'll see Sony shut down Bungie in the near future, like it has with other studios? It also doesn't help that Destiny 2 was already in a bad place prior to Marathon's launch.
After watching Bluepoint Games get shuttered, it almost feels like no studio is safe. It's not going to happen tomorrow, of course, but it definitely feels like it's on the table.
As for Marathon, I'd personally be very disappointed to see it go. You can find out why in my review.
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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