Rumor: Bungie Might Delay Marathon Further

Highlights

• Marathon, Bungie’s new extraction shooter, may face delays and not launch until 2025, according to recent reports.
• The original story-driven franchise will now be a live-service PvP game set in 2850 on Tau Ceti.
• Recent job cuts at Bungie could impact Marathon’s development, causing further delays and potential issues.

A reputable source has claimed that Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon, is facing developmental troubles and might take even longer to launch than anticipated. Although Bungie hasn’t officially disclosed a release window for Marathon, rumors suggested that the studio is internally targeting a 2025 release for the game. According to this new development, though, Marathon may slip out of next year as well.

After years of supporting Destiny 2, Bungie announced a revival of the long-dormant Marathon franchise at the 2023 PlayStation Showcase. Where the original games were story-driven first-person shooters, though, the resurrected Marathon is confirmed to be a live-service PvP extraction shooter set in the year 2850 on Tau Ceti, a location from the very first entry in the series. Players will assume the roles of “Runners” who can transfer their consciousness to different bodies via clone technology, which means that they won’t really die during their runs.

While some Bungie fans are skeptical of Marathon‘s new direction, others expressed interest in the studio’s first new game in seven years. Unfortunately, though, they may have to strap in for a longer wait, if reliable industry insider Jason Schreier is to be believed. Speaking on a recent episode of the Friends Per Second podcast on YouTube, Schreier was asked about Marathon‘s status at the 31:30 mark. He alleged that the general sentiment around Marathon at Bungie is “not great,” and that Bungie surprisingly planned to release the game in 2024, but it “slipped a whole year” into 2025. Schreier even claimed that developers are still “a little pessimistic” about Marathon hitting its currently planned release window.

Recent Bungie Job Cuts Might Affect Marathon’s Development

The insider did clarify that this information was accurate “as of a few months ago,” but after Bungie recently laid off 220 employees, it’s difficult to imagine that the sentiment around Marathon has picked up. The studio affirmed in its statement regarding the layoffs that it will focus exclusively on Destiny 2 and Marathon, with a previously in-house incubation project being spun out to a new team under PlayStation Studios. With such a drastic decrease in Bungie’s headcount, though, it does appear plausible that Marathon may need some more time in development.

The past week hasn’t yielded very positive news cycles for Bungie. Although Destiny 2‘s The Final Shape expansion received widespread critical acclaim in June, the layoffs dealt a substantial blow to morale surrounding the studio. In view of all these events, many are looking towards Marathon as the next big thing for Bungie. It remains to be seen whether the extraction shooter is actually facing development issues, but so far, the odds are slowly stacking against it.