Bungie, the studio behind the Destiny franchise, is actively developing Marathon, a player-versus-player extraction shooter that was unveiled in 2023. In a recent update, the company confirmed that the game’s development is progressing well, although no gameplay footage was disclosed. Instead, Bungie chose to share concept art and provide minimal insights into the game’s development status.
Update from the Developer
In a Developer Update video released on YouTube this past Monday, Joe Ziegler, the game director for Marathon, spoke about the ongoing development of the sci-fi extraction shooter. While he indicated that the studio is not yet in a position to present gameplay, he assured viewers that many aspects of the game are “on track.”
Ziegler mentioned, “Over the past few years, we’ve made significant changes to the game, and we’ve been heavily iterating. During this period, we have conducted testing with various players.”
He elaborated on the current state of the game, revealing, “At this point, different components are at varying stages of completion. Our environments are shaping up beautifully, while some character models are progressing, but we are still refining them. The enemy models are currently in earlier stages of development.”
Although Ziegler stated it is too soon to showcase gameplay, he reaffirmed that development is moving forward positively for all elements involved.
“While these elements are not yet complete, we are eagerly anticipating the moment they come together and are excited to reveal how it all plays out,” he stated.
Hey everyone! We made a “little” video where I chat about what we’re making on the Marathon team and what we’ve been up to in the dark all this time. It’s not a gameplay reveal or anything, but if you’re interested in hearing the latest, check it out below.
Much ♥ pic.twitter.com/WaHgCADed3
— Ziegler (@Ziegler_Dev) October 28, 2024
Concept Art Revealed
During the Developer Update, Bungie showcased new concept art featuring two distinct characters from Marathon. The first image presented a character known as the “Runner,” codenamed “Thief,” while the second depicted another Runner character, codenamed “Stealth,” focusing on stealth gameplay mechanics.
Bungie plans to unveil additional game content in 2025, coinciding with an expansion of playtests. Ziegler mentioned, “We are looking to increase the number of participants for each of our development milestones as we progress.”
It had been 17 months since Bungie last provided an update regarding Marathon, which was initially teased during the PlayStation Showcase in May 2023. Before Monday’s announcements, the last post from the Marathon X handle on social media was on May 27, 2023, when the game was first introduced. The post hinted at a period of silence for development focus, stating, “Now we’re going dark to focus on the game… and when we come back – we’ll have gameplay to show!”
In August, Bungie announced significant layoffs affecting 220 employees, as part of a restructuring process intended to streamline the studio’s operational costs. CEO Pete Parsons noted that the company needed to implement “substantial changes” to its cost structure while concentrating development efforts on its two primary franchises, Destiny and Marathon.
While no specific release date has been set for Marathon, the game is currently available for wishlisting on platforms such as Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox.
