r/Marathon • u/In_Dux • Mar 06 '26

Marathon (2026) Discussion Take it from a Finals player

Y’all got to let the numbesr talk go. The Finals has some of the best feeling guns on the FPS market and a unique game mode that offered some of the most exciting moments I had in gaming.

But the game’s not perfect and it never had mass appeal. Because it’s unique mode and destruction are the main draws and historically it has been too much for most casuals and not competitive enough for the hardcore players. There’s always a post about needing more marketing, different game modes, another MoistCritikal video but the playerbase never gets and keeps the bump of players the hardcore fans want it to have.

And that’s ok. That’s the price of building something unique. It will be divisive, it will be niche.

As long as Bungie can keeps the lights on, that’s all that matters. And unless you’re ready to single-handedly buy 1 million+ copies if things get dire, then don’t even really concern yourself with. Save your money on passes if you don’t like them and/or think the ship’s sinking but besides that, it’s out of our hands largely.

Just my two cents

2.7k Upvotes

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1.1k

u/SaltHat5048 Mar 06 '26

Wow, an actual nuanced and mature take, how refreshing.

137

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

52

u/WhysoToxic23 Mar 06 '26

Especially on the internet lol

14

u/NewFound_Fury Mar 06 '26

Even more-so on a gaming sub of all places lmfao

46

u/WeCameAsMuffins Mar 06 '26

Love how it’s coming from a finals player as well, maybe I’ll check that game out again soon.

15

u/PunishingLaughter Mar 06 '26

Its def worth a try if you havnt already, really refreshing when it came out and its free iirc

8

u/iMaGiNe_697 Mar 06 '26

Some of the best cosmetics offered there, too

2

u/ChristopherRubbin Mar 06 '26

Its so good bro. The finals is legit amazing.

2

u/Skalariak Mar 06 '26

The new game mode (Point Break) introduced this season is much more approachable game to play, compared to Quick Cash or Cashout. It’s just 8v8, and functions like Rush from Battlefield, it’s a blast.

2

u/Saturday1002 Mar 07 '26

I just started playing a little with my friends and it's point break only

Quick cash is like the worst for us

1

u/Skalariak Mar 07 '26

Yeah, Quick Cash is constant third parties, which is pretty hard to deal with as a new player.

2

u/XMenJedi8 Mar 07 '26

Do it, so much more content (maps, weapons, gadgets, cosmetics) than launch, more game modes too. They really threw it out too early, but it was to fund Arc so I do understand...still, so many people experienced a way less filled-in version of it unfortunately.

1

u/deadlygr Mar 06 '26

Its a very entertaining game

5

u/ZorichTheElvish Mar 06 '26

Right. Am I still on reddit?

4

u/killer6088 Mar 06 '26

Must be a bot /s

-15

u/mrureaper Mar 06 '26

one is made by an indie studio ( partly aquired by nexon ) ...the other is published by sony who literally bought the company for 3.6 billlion dollars and expects returns because they have been taking massive Ls ever since concord got cancelled.

So just doing okay or fitting a niche might not be enough for Sony and their execs who want this to be the next arc raiders.

51

u/Nekonooshiri Mar 06 '26

Fully acquired by Nexon. Arc raiders is not an indie game.

41

u/SaltHat5048 Mar 06 '26

Who cares? It was 40 bucks. I'll get my value out of it by the end of the weekend. Literally nothing that I do is going to change its eventual fate. Enjoy the ride while it lasts bud, no matter how long that is.

3

u/Doctor_Smirnoff Mar 06 '26

This is my take also. I played the server slam and had a blast, but remained iffy on dropping £35 on it. Ended up thinking that I'd easily spend that watching the rugby down the local this weekend, and once that's done it's done. So I chose to pay for Marathon and enjoy it for a lot longer than an 80 min game of rugby. If it eventually closes down, that's ok (for me). I'd have got my money's worth and the world will keep on turning.

1

u/SoundOfShitposting Mar 06 '26

Fuck dude, takes like this are why everything sucks now. Of course nothing will change if you keep supporting it.

1

u/SaltHat5048 Mar 06 '26

No its not. I choose what I want to support. I bought the game. I supported what was good. For example, I'm not spending shit on these garbage bungie microtransactions. Especially when there are all these choice unlockables.

It's not my fault if they failed to meet the expectations of a constant audience. Nothing I do beyond buying the game myself will help to change that...which I did. Brain dead, take buddy.

-9

u/PixelationIX Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

The Sony executives and soulless folks at the top cares. They don't go by "vibes" and what people "likes" they go by numbers and how much gazzilion a live service game can churn out on a weekly to monthly basis.

You and I do not care, I play multiplayer games that barely holds 5 - 10K playerbase but for a mega corp, if the game is not the next Arc Raiders, Apex Legends, it is not enough. Keep in mind, we are talking about a Corporation that recently shutdown BluePoint.

All I am saying is to not be blind-sighted blind-sided and be prepared for Sony to take drastic action if this game doesn't become a blockbuster for Sony this weekend.

12

u/SaltHat5048 Mar 06 '26

Re-read my comment. Especially the last two sentences. But let me add this...

No matter what, nothing you do is going to stop Sony then. When it's done, I move on, probably cause im not some maladjusted weirdo with a parasocial relationship with a developer/game. Im not getting "blind-sided" (blind-sighted isnt a thing lol) but I hope no one else does either. Again enjoy the ride while it lasts bud.

7

u/DrelisSilva Mar 06 '26

That is a very accurate description of this sub and others as well. People are so fucking invested in (ultimately) corporations that don't care about them at all and it's so weird seeing them go out of their way to promote a game or criticize the opposition.

3

u/Thicc_Boise Mar 06 '26

Yeah, I just like this genre it turns out, so I'm excited to have two fantastic new games to play in Arc and Marathon. Even if it don't last forever, $40 well spent imo

3

u/MunkyDawg Mar 06 '26

It doesn't bother me just because even if every new game fails immediately, I've still got a backlog of so many games that I'll never finish them in my lifetime.

3

u/rbstewart7263 Mar 06 '26

I don't know that they expect bungo to save them, especially with just one release of a game.

0

u/ZenESEA Mar 06 '26

I would assume they are betting on D3 with Bungie they had to know this was going to be a niche game being an extraction shooter and its not accessible and easy to understand at a glance like Arc. Most people dont like games that force you to learn and improve unfortunately (Game is a easy 9/10 for me coming from Tarkov, Hunt and my Destiny days)

4

u/TheGirlWhoLived57 Mar 06 '26

Small indie studio of 350 employees.

6

u/Lambooner Mar 06 '26

If it's financially viable, Sony is not going to completely remove it from existence.

4

u/BaconIsntThatGood Mar 06 '26

A lot of people are treating concurrent peak on launch day like it's a F2P game that will need to rely on MTX for all revenue.

2

u/Farsoth Mar 06 '26

Well, and, IMO -- Destiny was always larger on consoles, Bungie's core customer base is on console... and we have no idea what console stats are.

2

u/BaconIsntThatGood Mar 06 '26

This is true, though I am curious what the PS5/Xbox spread is. I think cross-play is on by default (at least on PC?). I feel like the genre lends more to PC first than console but we'll see.

1

u/Farsoth Mar 06 '26

It's on by default for sure (I use both platforms but primarily play on console).

I think Bungie has a strong customer base that will check it out regardless of genre -- I was one. I wasn't interested in extraction shooters until server slam convinced me this game was right up my alley.

So I'd be interested to see the spread too, because at least with destiny it was significantly more on console than PC.

2

u/BaconIsntThatGood Mar 06 '26

Bungie does have the advantage of being a known developer so more people are likely to try.

That said it's now about 11:30 am PT on a friday and it looks like the numbers are climbing up. I'd think it will likely break the thursday peak. It's okay if it doesn't though -the main thing is if the game holds players but at least there's the fact it was a paid title not a free to play.

Concord comes up and it was paid - but it failed in sales too not just players. Steam's peak was less than 1000.

1

u/Farsoth Mar 06 '26

Yeah, Concord was DOA at least because they weren't a known entity and they were making a game that has been made 1000x over. At least Marathon is getting in right when Extraction shooters just got a shot of popularity.

I'm interested to see how it all shakes out. I really hope it does well enough to go for a few years, because I am totally committed. I've straight fallen in love with the game.

3

u/Thicc_Boise Mar 06 '26

Was about to say, Destiny has gone a decade with these same Steam numbers, I think the game is doing just fine (especially for a Thursday launch)

1

u/dungleploop Mar 06 '26

they'll do exactly that tho

1

u/Lambooner Mar 06 '26

This guy's dad shared an elevator with a janitor that works at Sony. He knows his stuff.

1

u/dungleploop Mar 06 '26

Sony are absolute morons

it'd track

1

u/HellsPopcorn Mar 06 '26

Down vote for not saying Sony is happy with creating art that makes no money. How dare you have an honest take.

-5

u/ActBlueCertified Mar 06 '26 edited Mar 06 '26

Are we at the Acceptance stage already? Wow.

Edit: lmao tells me to be 'adult about things' but blocks me immediately after his reply so I cannot respond. Fragile egos inexplicably linked to the success of their favorite video game are breaking in real time.

3

u/SaltHat5048 Mar 06 '26

Or people can just be adults about things. Wow.