Bungie has offered a design update for Marathon, its subsequent sci-fi PvP extraction shooter.
Athletic director Joe Ziegler discussed the undulating climate of the project in a nine-minute YouTube video posted Monday, which can be viewed below.
Following Marathon’s announcement in May 2023, Bungie said it will “go dark to focus on the game… and when we come back, we’ll have gameplay to show off.”
Ziegler said in today’s update that Bungie is not yet able to show Marathon gameplay. On the other hand, he stated that construction is “on track,” shared some unused artwork and advanced plans to expand playtesting in 2025.
While author Sony has never announced a release window for the game, Bungie was reportedly focused on a 2024 release before an extension.
Ziegler stated in today’s video: “Where are we right now in terms of making this game? Well, over the last few years we’ve made a lot of aggressive changes to the game and we’ve been iterating quite a bit, and during that time we’ve been testing with a lot of players, a lot of players. like you, also with creators.
“And it’s incredibly amazing, and I’m filled with gratitude when I think about it, because there are so many people who have contributed telling us, ‘Hey, this sucks,’ or ‘This is great.’ . In a way that has really helped us diagnose, analyze, shape and change the game in excellent ways.
“In the current situation of the game, there are a variety of different things in different states within the game. Some things are a little more complete, like our environments are starting to come together in a really beautiful way. We’ve been iterating on some of the character models, so they’re coming together, but they’re not quite there yet. Our enemy models are still a little bit in an early state, so we’re still iterating and getting those things to land strongly, and some of the elements are still online.
“So, it’s a little early to show you everything as one piece, but as you may have noticed, as many of you are familiar, if you have been or are familiar with game development, all of these things are on the right track. They are not all together, but when everyone comes together, we’re really looking forward to showing them what that looks like, especially in the game.”
In Marathon, players adopt cybernetic mercenaries called Runners. Running alone or as part of three-person teams, they fight to survive and plunder a lost colony on a secret planet known as Tau Ceti IV.
Ziegler went on to show off artwork for 2 Runners, codenamed Thief (supremacy) and Stealth (bass).
“Hopefully, it’s just a taste, an appetizer, if you will, of the content we have before we reveal much more to you in mid-2025,” he said.
“Also talking about 2025, as we said before, we have been iterating a lot with our players and therefore in 2025, we will expand our playtesting a little more and more.
“We are looking to add a significant number of players to each of our milestones as we move forward and some of these big milestones are opportunities for all of you to join us.
“We’ll definitely let you know when that happens, but if you’re interested in following us or learning more, or keeping up with all the updates we have, definitely one of the ways you can do that is to add to wishlist.” us in the storefronts that exist, whether Steam on Xbox or PSN. “They all have wishlist buttons.”
In an accompanying post on X, Bungie said Marathon will be exempt for Xbox Order
Bungie and Sony are reportedly making an allocation for a $40 entry for Marathon.
Former Valorant sporting director Ziegler announced in March that he had taken over as Marathon sporting director, amid reports that former sporting director Christopher Barrett had left the company.
It was recently claimed that Barrett was fired by Bungie and later accused of irrelevant behavior.
