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[Men_in_Boxes]

This doesn't make sense. We can clearly see the players vanishing. Even when they put it on ps+, people will leave it fairly quickly. Because it sucks.

Here's why it makes sense:

Marathon S1 is the worst version of Marathon we'll ever see. Meaningful improvements often lead to an increase in player population for Live Service games.

 

[neocycle]

Here's why it makes sense:

Marathon S1 is the worst version of Marathon we'll ever see. Meaningful improvements often lead to an increase in player population for Live Service games.

Do you think they will completely remake the UI?

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Do you think they will completely remake the UI?

I don't think completely remaking the UI would improve player metrics very much. They'll improve it subtly over time.

Way bigger issues than that.

 

[cormack12]

This doesn't make sense. We can clearly see the players vanishing. Even when they put it on ps+, people will leave it fairly quickly. Because it sucks.

Bungie claims it has a Marathon story plan stretching ‘years’ into the future | VGC

But Marathon’s future narrative direction will partly be influenced by players…

www.videogameschronicle.com

If they let the players shape the narrative, it will be the first extinction shooter. Thats the real omegagenre for MiB

 

[Mengy]

Pretty wild that the 1994 game calls to me more than 2026 marathon

The original Marathon was an awesome game. I wish they'd simply made the new game as a modern version or sequel to the original, like a Halo/Doom alternative. That would have been awesome.

 

[SnapShot]

I'm not getting anything really in this that would indicate what we see today imo

The terminals look like codex entries, the alien in red robe, the setting (Marathon ship). NuMarathon is using a lot of the original games elements

 

[Hollywood Hitman]

The terminals look like codex entries, the alien in red robe, the setting (Marathon ship). NuMarathon is using a lot of the original games elements

It's the characters that really turn me off, those weird fucking fetish bitches etc

 

[Hollywood Hitman]

The original Marathon was an awesome game. I wish they'd simply made the new game as a modern version or sequel to the original, like a Halo/Doom alternative. That would have been awesome.

It's wild I don't recall it, I was big time tho into doom, heretic, wolfenstein then Duke etc so don't really remember seeing marathon at all.

 

[Zacfoldor]

That analytics post that said Marathon had "2.2 million players" really threw a bomb into discourse around this game. I see people quote it as a sales figure everywhere now.

Also the people that claim it has "stabilised" or has "found an audience" really aren't putting any critical thought into this. The game is still dropping 15-25% week on week, how is that in any way stabilising.?

Yes but that includes the server slam imho. So we are comparing two different figures. Alinea is giving sales while the other figure is providing unique players in launch month. There was a free to play event pre launch called the server slam in the launch month(march) on all three platforms that would be included in that. Both numbers could be accurate, because they are comparing different things.

It doesn't actually matter, because even if it did sell as much as they want to believe, the game has been ruined by the bleed. Those players are gone forever. It's an desperate hope by people who love the game wishing the split was different and that it wasn't dead on consoles.

 

[lh032]

i think sony should sell off bungie at a cheap price

 

[ComboBongo]

Do you think they will completely remake the UI?

Why would they? It's a vertical menu of 5 items with horizontal tabs of around 5 items, and aesthetically looks great while being unique and aligned with the game itself.

 

[evanft]

This thread is just lame at this point. Here are all the summary facts:

1. The Steam sales appear relatively strong, somewhere around 650k.
2. The CCU is on the low end of "solid."
3. The console sales probably put overall purchases at around 2.5 million.
4. At $40, Bungie has injected enough revenue to build this game out.
5. They probably can build it out, as user reviews are very strong.
6. It clearly has found a small, but apparently durable audience.

Literally any other takes are super useless.

This shit aged like already-expired milk.

 

[neocycle]

Why would they? It's a vertical menu of 5 items with horizontal tabs of around 5 items, and aesthetically looks great while being unique and aligned with the game itself.

It's the most awful UI. Even have to use the awful cursor on consoles. Because Bungie apparently doesn't make games for consoles. But whatever. It's your dead game.

 

[diffusionx]

This doesn't make sense. We can clearly see the players vanishing. Even when they put it on ps+, people will leave it fairly quickly. Because it sucks.

Bungie claims it has a Marathon story plan stretching ‘years’ into the future | VGC

But Marathon’s future narrative direction will partly be influenced by players…

www.videogameschronicle.com

we are seeing all the same stuff we heard from the Highguard fans and devs
1. This game has the "secret sauce" only we can understand
2. We are proud of our game
3. we have a long term plan

etc. while the user base is collapsing. I am not sure this game will make it to Labor Day at this point.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Yes but that includes the server slam imho.

The server slam wasn't during "launch month". The Alinea report said "2.2 million players during launch month" which means server slam and April were not included.

 

[Pollux]

How is deadlock?

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

This shit aged like already-expired milk.

3. The console sales probably put overall purchases at around 2.5 million.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Not sure if posted yet, watching now.

The server slam wasn't during "launch month". The Alinea report said "2.2 million players during launch month" which means server slam and April were not included.

According to Gemini, The Marathon Server Slam took place from February 26, 2026, at 10 AM PT to March 2, 2026, at 10 AM PT.

March is launch month, no? 2 days of sever slam in March. If I'm wrong please correct me, I'm totally accepting that I may be full of shit and or may be confidently be giving bad facts. It's part a muh tism. I think you are alright man. We need diverse opinions and a tough lobbyist for gaas. Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing:

The Game Business creator Chris Dring reported that "According to Ampere, Marathon attracted over 2.2 million players during its launch month, with 1.1 million on PC, 660,000 on PS5, and 525,000 on Xbox."

Again launch month is March right?

Not sure when Taul dropped his split comments about Alinea being about right with 70% on pc.

 

[Bernardougf]

I said it in this thread, I have 7 to 8,000 hours of Destiny if anyone knows how they been burned by bungie it's me... Because I couldn't take it anymore and quit in May of 23.

But that aside I'm not gonna try to kid myself if bungie said we are FULL ON deck for D3 and it came out, I'm not goin to try and act like I don't care because the moment it was releasing the hype would be unreal... Not a chance id not try to relive that experience.

You really trust modern Bungie that fucked up D2 and launched this turd of a game is capable of "reliving the experience" you had in previous Destiny's ?

I dont think the company that made what you loved exists anymore.

 

[Hollywood Hitman]

You really thrust modern Bungie that fucked up D2 and launched this turd of a game is capable of "reliving the experience" you had in previous Destiny's ?

I dont think the company that made what you loved exists anymore.

No what I'm saying is if they shut marathon down and said we are 100% on destiny 3, I couldn't resist to at least see.. But do I thjnk that'd ever happen not a chance lol

D2 went down because of Marathon and taking the teams off it.

But I know the chances of them ever going full on for d3 is slim to none

 

[Bernardougf]

No what I'm saying is if they shut marathon down and said we are 100% on destiny 3, I couldn't resist to at least see.. But do I thjnk that'd ever happen not a chance lol

D2 went down because of Marathon and taking the teams off it.

But I know the chances of them ever going full on for d3 is slim to none

Oh I think if they live they will go full on D3 but Bungie is probably full of Men_in_Boxes doing the work now ... and thats why we got Marathon

 

[N30RYU]

A game is its userbase... Roadmaps are just devs wishthinking that their game is good enought to keep ppl playing it till someting new drops... then they face the hard reality and they end tied working on a game almost no one keeps playing.

If anything sony knew that and early kill with Concord was a better move than trying to keep it alive.

 

[Zacfoldor]

If the next major Destiny 2 update, titled Shadow and Order, is scheduled to launch on June 9, 2026, and they said marathon would get a new season in roughly 3 month intervals, and the current season started on March 5, then how will they launch both updates on the same day?

I'm gonna say it now, shadow and order has already been delayed once, I think that marathon will be pushed back so they can get a bigger bump on season two. I think they need to make sure this update is everything for the game. The bleed is already gonna have them down to nothing might as well delay it and get it right.

 

[rkofan87]

Imagine paying billions for this and it isn't even exclusive.

I'm surprised Sony let Xbox have Marathon

 

[Odinnii]

It's wild I don't recall it, I was big time tho into doom, heretic, wolfenstein then Duke etc so don't really remember seeing marathon at all.

I think they were for Mac only. I did play a remake of one of the old games on XBLA and I thougt it was pretty good.

 

[Plague Doctor]

Imagine paying billions for this and it isn't even exclusive.

Counterpoint.

Who the fuck is buying a PS5 just to play this sweat shit on a controller?

(But I do see what you are saying with the Bungie acquisition as a whole. Valid point,)

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Lmfao. These people are fucking insane.

Marathon boss says extraction shooters are like The Lord of the Rings and that's why they need PvP

 

[Signalis]

Only 2 - 3 more weeks of...

...then the phoenix ascends.

 

[falconhoof]

A game is its userbase... Roadmaps are just devs wishthinking that their game is good enought to keep ppl playing it till someting new drops... then they face the hard reality and they end tied working on a game almost no one keeps playing.

If anything sony knew that and early kill with Concord was a better move than trying to keep it alive.

It's always worth going back and reading the stories before a game's release to see how things reflect.

First Look: PlayStation’s Concord is breaking new ground in how live service games tell stories | VGC

Built by Destiny and Call of Duty veterans, Concord is much more than its quippy trailer would have you believe…

www.videogameschronicle.com

All the talking points are here the stories of building with a strong veteran team, that confidence that the had something so big on their hands that they could plan out years in advance. All based on zero earnings other than a massive money raise and people's ex-job titles.

 

[BennyBlanco]

i think sony should sell off bungie at a cheap price

Who would buy them? They actively bleed money. Nobody cares about Destiny 2 or Marathon and they have thousands of employees.

 

[falconhoof]

I wanted to compare the Saturday performance of Marathon and Destiny 2. Looks how close these games are now, about 50k hours difference between them. Remember that D2 has been on a steady train of performance whilst Marathon is dropping daily. We could soon see the crossover where Destiny takes back the Bungie crown.

| Game      | Date | Avg CCU | Peak CCU | Player-hours | DAU range      | DAU midpoint |
| Marathon  | Sat  | 11,907  | 16,950   | 285,765      | 95,255-228,612 | 142,883      |
| Destiny 2 | Sat  |  9,733  | 12,703   | 233,589      | 77,863-186,871 | 116,795      |

 

[Zacfoldor]

The blame game is starting. I somehow feel we've entered a new phase.

 

[Plague Doctor]

Btw, the CCU thread is officially 50 pages more than the OT.

That is definitely a record that might never be topped.

 

[Moridianae]

The blame game is starting. I somehow feel we've entered a new phase.

I think what isn't mentioned here is while I'll grant that the Destiny 2 community has, indeed, probably done what they can for Marathon, there's some context needed.

I would wager that outside of the PvP community of Destiny, there's a(probably) pretty sizable chunk of said fan base that is quite casual.

There's a limit to how much time and perseverance they are willing to contribute to a game that is decidedly anything *but* casual in almost every aspect of it's overall design.

It may be a factor in why the bleed continues(in addition to lack of content, Cryo being a time locked sweat fest, etc.), as attracting new players already seems to be a fool's errand as even a sale couldn't do much to help it.


And sweats inevitably move on as well; when I was big into Dark Zone, one of the reasons that was often maligned is you always inevitably ran into the same squads over and over.

It wasn't uncommon to find the same people every time. That gets boring.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

This video explores why Bungie currently faces a significant obstacle that extends beyond the struggles of Destiny 2 or the performance of Marathon: the company's reputation (7:44-7:53).

Key Takeaways:

Marathon's Misconception: While often labeled as a "hardcore" extraction shooter, the creator argues Marathon is actually quite approachable due to simplified inventory, healing, and weapon systems compared to titles like Escape from Tarkov or Grey Zone Warfare (2:20-6:52).

The Trust Deficit: Many players who transitioned from Destiny 2 to Marathon are approaching the new game with caution. The creator highlights how recent issues—such as suspicious matchmaking changes and heavy-handed balance nerfs—mirror the patterns that damaged Destiny 2 (8:45-18:06).

Destiny's Decline: The creator reflects on how Destiny 2 has cycled through phases of greatness (like Forsaken or The Final Shape) followed by periods of poor management, resulting in a persistent "dead game" reputation that is difficult to shake (20:16-23:24).

The Cycle of Mistakes: A major frustration for the community is Bungie's tendency to wait until they are "backed into a corner" to release high-quality content, only to repeat the same mistakes afterward (27:38-28:33).

Conclusion:

The creator concludes that Bungie's biggest hurdle is repairing the loss of trust within their player base. There is no "quick fix"; they must maintain the rapid, transparent communication seen recently in Marathon and apply it consistently across all their projects. Ultimately, the creator expresses concern that without a fundamental shift in how Bungie manages its games and player expectations, even massive updates may not be enough to fully restore their reputation or bring back the disillusioned player base (28:42-30:56).

 

[Hollywood Hitman]

Lmfao. These people are fucking insane.

Marathon boss says extraction shooters are like The Lord of the Rings and that's why they need PvP

I mean what in the holy hell does that even mean

 

[LordCBH]

Lmfao. These people are fucking insane.

Marathon boss says extraction shooters are like The Lord of the Rings and that's why they need PvP

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I mean what in the holy hell does that even mean

 

[Zannegan]

"I like to think of classic stories of adventure like The Lord of the Rings when thinking about games like this," Ziegler says, "where you can imagine the journey of Frodo and the Fellowship would have been way less interesting and suspenseful if all they encountered was dangerous wildlife on the way to Mount Doom and didn't have other enemies out there unpredictably trying to steal the ring or end their journey."

Can't argue with that. Stew on this the next time you wish for a PvE mode for Arc Raiders. Would you really want a story that's nothing but Ents and Eagles?

Point of fact, I can argue with that, and I would start by arguing that this is a godawful analogy, and the author of the article is working way too hard trying to make the flaccid point work. I hate the term "glazing,"but it's pretty apt in this case.

If anything, looking at the balance of how much time is spent journeying, how much feasting and meeting with friends, and how much actually in conflict with enemies, LoTR works as a better argument for PvE than for PvP.

Again though, it's just an awful analogy meant to prop up a paper thin argument. No shit non-cozy games need challenge/antagonists to be compelling, but it doesn't follow that PvP is the ideal vehicle for that challenge nor that Marathon's PvP design is actually providing a serviceable version.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I'm surprised Sony let Xbox have Marathon

Bungie operates independently of Sony oversight, a condition of the acquisition. At some point Sony will need to rethink letting Bungie have so much freedom, or just spin them back off or sell them back to Microsoft. Or just shut them down

 

[Plague Doctor]

Bungie operates independently of Sony oversight, a condition of the acquisition. At some point Sony will need to rethink letting Bungie have so much freedom, or just spin them back off or sell them back to Microsoft. Or just shut them down

Makes you wonder if some Suit at Sony saw this game through development, knew it was going to shake out like this, and gave Bungie enough rope to hang themselves.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Lmfao. These people are fucking insane.

Marathon boss says extraction shooters are like The Lord of the Rings and that's why they need PvP

Lord of the Rings can do extraction shooter

 

[Shubh_C63]

What possible conditions could be there that Marathon DOES survives this ? Three months and averaging at 14K daily.

• Content wise there is no chance Season 2 can outmatch S1, all they can surprise with is maybe one more actual fun mode.
• Season2Month-1 need minimum >30K average players, showing minimum acceptable player retention for a high cost 400-employee Dev.
• And S2Month2 >20K avg, S2Month3>15K

Even after achieving that, it would mean Marathon have had average ~22K players for two financial Quarters, which is on par with Gray Zone Warfare (low cost dev ~100employees). Money wise, doesn't seem to make sense. And I don't see how Bungie can survive with 8K players playing for 6 months like Fatshark and Massive did.

The chances that Season 2 does better numbers than Season 1 is almost non existent. I am sure it will achieve a good Week1 peak.x

 

[Signalis]

Lmfao. These people are fucking insane.

Marathon boss says extraction shooters are like The Lord of the Rings and that's why they need PvP

 

[Von Hugh]

Lord of the Rings can do extraction shooter

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Bungie operates independently of Sony oversight, a condition of the acquisition. At some point Sony will need to rethink letting Bungie have so much freedom, or just spin them back off or sell them back to Microsoft. Or just shut them down

I don't think that's the case anymore:

With its quarterly earnings report in August 2025, Sony CFO Lin Tao said as part of an ongoing process, Bungie was being shifted away from being independent towards having a role within PlayStation Studios as part of structural reform within Sony.

Bungie - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

March is launch month, no? 2 days of sever slam in March. If I'm wrong please correct me, I'm totally accepting that I may be full of shit and or may be confidently be giving bad facts. It's part a muh tism. I think you are alright man. We need diverse opinions and a tough lobbyist for gaas. Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing:

Again launch month is March right?

Not sure when Taul dropped his split comments about Alinea being about right with 70% on pc.

Nope, it was indeed I who was full of sh**. I forgot the Server Slam bled into March.

You may have won this time, but this is not the last you've seen of me

 

[Bernardougf]

I'm surprised Sony let Xbox have Marathon

Cmon xbox bros deserves to laugh at this as much as everyone

 

[PeteBull]

Only 2 - 3 more weeks of...

...then the phoenix ascends.

Marathon ascending gonna be legendary:

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Btw, the CCU thread is officially 50 pages more than the OT.

That is definitely a record that might never be topped.

Horizon Fornite Hunters says hi.