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Marathon Releases March 5 '26 - $39.99

I want a special title for a lot of us marathoners that always believed
Wouldn't say I always believed until I actually played it. I've been fully onboard since the October test.

I was always interested, but that alpha reveal really shook my resolve.

#clarkywasright.
 
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Think I might go with:

Marathon |OT| Gamings next Halo moment (tm)

Seriously, will probably go with Escape will make me god unless Men_in_Boxes Men_in_Boxes provides me with another gem before launch.
I'm not going to tell Rembrandt how to paint, but I will say this...

"Escape with make me God" is safe, professional, corporate...maybe a little forgettable?

The story of Marathon, imo, is the mass grave that was dug for it 9 months ago and how it defied all odds to skullf**k all the naysayers in their orbital sockets. In my opinion, the tag should stand to remind those who doubted how piggish their behavior was.

Or "Death is the first step".
 
I'm not going to tell Rembrandt how to paint, but I will say this...

"Escape with make me God" is safe, professional, corporate...maybe a little forgettable?

The story of Marathon, imo, is the mass grave that was dug for it 9 months ago and how it defied all odds to skullf**k all the naysayers in their orbital sockets. In my opinion, the tag should stand to remind those who doubted how piggish their behavior was.

Or "Death is the first step".
Death is the first step would be incredibly perfect
 
How about

"Escape Will Make Me GOTY"
Honestly... this would be my pick. Although I like "Gaming's Next Halo Moment" too :messenger_tears_of_joy:

I want a special title for a lot of us marathoners that always believed
I'm relatively late to this thread but I've believed since the first reveal. I wanted to experience that art style no matter what the final game ended up being. I did enjoy the pre-overhaul tests last year and kept my belief up through its darkest moments, so I'm just glad they've seemingly managed to turn things around in a big way.
 
Honestly... this would be my pick. Although I like "Gaming's Next Halo Moment" too :messenger_tears_of_joy:


I'm relatively late to this thread but I've believed since the first reveal. I wanted to experience that art style no matter what the final game ended up being. I did enjoy the pre-overhaul tests last year and kept my belief up through its darkest moments, so I'm just glad they've seemingly managed to turn things around in a big way.
Honestly, i'd like it if this stays gaming's best kept secret and doesn't blow up.

Like when you have a favourite show or band then it goes tits up and spoils it due to popularity. Mildly successful but catering to a niche audience like Hunt will do just fine.
 
Honestly, i'd like it if this stays gaming's best kept secret and doesn't blow up.

Like when you have a favourite show or band then it goes tits up and spoils it due to popularity. Mildly successful but catering to a niche audience like Hunt will do just fine.
I don't disagree, I just think it would be a funny thread title since the thread title it's referencing was so ridiculous to begin with.

I do hope Hunt level of success will be enough to carry the game long-term. I don't know what kind of expectations Bungie or Sony have on this game, but that's probably the best they can hope for.
 
I don't disagree, I just think it would be a funny thread title since the thread title it's referencing was so ridiculous to begin with.

I do hope Hunt level of success will be enough to carry the game long-term. I don't know what kind of expectations Bungie or Sony have on this game, but that's probably the best they can hope for.
I don't want to say it but I will anyway. I think this game will do really well. Its great, we know that. Might just take a while for everyone else to catch on.
 
I don't want to say it but I will anyway. I think this game will do really well. Its great, we know that. Might just take a while for everyone else to catch on.
Still need a curated public playtest. I hope they're confident enough for that.
 
ARC Raiders feels like they have a really strong foundation but they didn't develope the top yet.

The end game is weak (will get better)
The loot is generic (will get better)
The proxy chat is undercooked (will get better)

Not sure if it was Patrick Soderland or not, but someone at Embark said they didn't have an extensive roadmap lined up because they wanted to see what people liked about the game before they built the rest. That does show. They left a lot of threads open.

Marathon looks a lot more intricate and finished. Designing and balancing the game around those Runners looks like it took a ton of work. They have 24 weapons with 400 mods. They have a legit end game. The production values are starting to pop.

ARC Raiders will eventually get there, but I suspect it's going to take a year or two to match Marathon in terms of features.

That's an interesting approach from both devs. Kinda shows that both tactics can work, but it all depends on team size and budget.
 
Still need a curated public playtest. I hope they're confident enough for that.
Free weekend. I expect i won't go down well with the wider gaming audience unless you are into this kind of thing.

Its brutal and not what i expected from Bungie at all. My first thoughts when i played was wow they really thought this would stick?

Then it stuck. Love it, hope it does well, its a massive gamble.
 
I don't want to say it but I will anyway. I think this game will do really well. Its great, we know that. Might just take a while for everyone else to catch on.


What do you guys consider "do well"? How many sales in the first month? How many top end concurrents on PC?
 
What do you guys consider "do well"? How many sales in the first month? How many top end concurrents on PC?
I'd be happy if we can stay over 100k concurrent players, ideally 150k minimum. Right this moment Arc is at 200k. Apex Legends is at 150k.

Hunt is at 25k. Marathon will absolutely beat that.
 
What do you guys consider "do well"? How many sales in the first month? How many top end concurrents on PC?
To be self sufficient and keep me entertained. I don't care if it does 10k or 500k ccu on steam.

Think will probably land about 50k on steam and have a dedicated base. Its a console shooter at heart and will do better on PS.

It has a chance to blow up because it's really good but its up against the horde so unlikely.
 
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I'll probably watch someone play it for five minutes...keep me entertained whilst having a big poo.

#usefulmarathon
 
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To be self sufficient and keep me entertained. I don't care if it does 10k or 500k ccu on steam.

Think will probably land about 50k on steam and have a dedicated base. Its a console shooter at heart and will do better on PS.

It has a chance to blow up because it's really good but its up against the horde so unlikely.

So if it's going to be more of a console shooter, then if it sells 5 million total in 2026; would that sound like a good thing? Or is that not enough?
 
So if it's going to be more of a console shooter, then if it sells 5 million total in 2026; would that sound like a good thing? Or is that not enough?
No idea im not Sony or Bungie. As long as it lives i couldn't care less about sales.

Like i said though i think it will do a lot better than people around here are expecting.
 
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Free weekend. I expect i won't go down well with the wider gaming audience unless you are into this kind of thing.

Its brutal and not what i expected from Bungie at all. My first thoughts when i played was wow they really thought this would stick?

Then it stuck. Love it, hope it does well, its a massive gamble.
I've liked every playtest I've joined. And the last one was a massive jump from earlier in 2025, so I'm already on board.

So if it's going to be more of a console shooter, then if it sells 5 million total in 2026; would that sound like a good thing? Or is that not enough?
I think it more than 5 million in 2026 since it's coming out in March. The competitive PvP crowd would eat this game up if they gave it a try.
 
I've liked every playtest I've joined. And the last one was a massive jump from earlier in 2025, so I'm already on board.


I think it more than 5 million in 2026 since it's coming out in March. The competitive PvP crowd would eat this game up if they gave it a try.
Ah yeah forgot you were already on board, my bad.
 
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Man, taking a step back, even years after announce I still can't believe Marathon of all things is being revived. The original trilogy is so cool and unique if you're into 90s shooters (I didn't play them myself until much more recently). I don't know what possessed Bungie to do this because this game is not gonna live or die based on name recognition from fans of the original (which is far too obscure for that). They could have called this something else entirely and it wouldn't have made much difference. I'm just glad they have an interest in their old IP and see the potential in it.

Of course there are people out there upset that this revival is coming in the form of a PvP extraction shooter instead of a single-player campaign (like Doom got). I felt this disappointment myself after the initial reveal but quickly moved away from that position for numerous reasons. The extraction loop fits so well with the vibe of the original games (especially as Infinity got into trippy themes of cycles of death and rebirth). The story of the originals was told exclusively through terminal entries which actually translates perfectly to what's doable in a multiplayer extraction shooter. A lot of online discussion is driven by older, more "hardcore" fans of exclusively single-player experiences who have a tendency to downplay and diminish multiplayer elements. I remember one time I was arguing with someone that multiplayer was just as important a pillar of Halo as campaign (if not more), and I was getting so much pushback it was insane. Halo without multiplayer is like tits without nipples. Bungie has always had a focus on PvP, and the PvP network play component of the original games was incredibly important to their legacy since it essentially gave Mac gamers their own Doom. This PvPvE direction is hardly some betrayal of the original Marathon experience, rather it seems a perfectly logical choice to combine the storytelling aspect with the multiplayer aspect while ratcheting up the gameplay tension (to me it seems a perfect tonal fit for a narrative that's always been about enduring bleak and cryptic circumstances while being strung along by sci-fi entities above and beyond comprehension).

So yeah, I quickly realized I didn't want a straightforward single-player FPS campaign revival of Marathon, especially because doing that kind of thing at a high production level just doesn't seem as feasible as it used to be - full price for an FPS campaign is a tough sell now (Doom is kind of the exception to the rule, but The Dark Ages seems to have underperformed). And even if it had been a campaign with a separate multiplayer component PS360-gen style, that kind of package also rarely works out these days. This spin on the Marathon concept is so much more interesting, especially as my own interests have tipped towards multiplayer experiences in recent years anyway.
 
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Someone post the damn twitter link to 16:9 video, I don't have an account so I can't even view it.
 
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This game is going to be so busted on launch. Makes the loot so much more exciting as well.
Yeah and also marathon has infinite quests so even after you leveled up all factions, you go in with a purpose. You can get money, weapons, heal items etc from those quests so its nice
 
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