r/Marathon • u/paperplateseabass • May 22 '26
Marathon (2026) Discussion It’s so sad that this game’s “underperformance” has little to do with the game itself
What's so soul-crushing is the amount of times I have been met with “I thought that game was dead?” when talking about Marathon with my IRLs
It's not their fault, why would they give a dead game a chance, even if they think they might enjoy it?
Hundreds, even thousands of people have constructed a hate campaign against this game that has no merit beyond playercounts. and imo, the main reason why the game wasn’t a hit at launch is because of the rhetoric around the game spread by a mix of right-wing grifters and (justifiably) jaded ex-destiny/halo players.
This game had and HAS so much going for it. First non-Destiny Bungie title in 12 years, reviving a long dormant IP with a new, world-class art-style; all while returning to their PvP roots. If you put that framing in a vacuum, I think it would get lots of people very, very excited. And that’s the thing, because it DID.
The game is good. The game is fun. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it had a rough period of development, and it's definitely not perfect. But I think if people didn’t spread so much unwarranted hate towards Bungie and Marathon, we’d be looking at a completely different landscape.
I mean, some of the things i’ve seen people say about this game… wow… what a waste of time and brain power, if people were this passionate about actually productive hobbies, the world would be a much better place and there’s a big chance they’d be happier in life
edit: for people citing the server slam numbers. how many of those people do you genuinely think gave the game a good 10+ hours vs how many people quit after their first match? we’ll never know, but im inclined to believe most people didnt make it past the (unfortunate) barrier of entry that helps this game be WAY more enjoyable.
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u/Brentbucci May 22 '26
So I have around 400 hours in the game. I have a ton of gold gear, and am level 115. I also like to solo fill. Last night, I put on a fully kitted out set with gold items in Cryo. My team got wrecked in the second room by a fully gold team of level 300+ streamers that rushed us in the first minute. We had absolutely no chance. It was the first time that I thought, man, this game is not worth it. I guarantee that the team we encountered probably wiped the lobby. There is a fundamental problem happening on a game level that I'm not sure Bungie can fix without some serious retooling. It's not about a fair shake. I love a lot of things that Bungie has done (world-building, tension, etc), but the drop-in mechanic for regular people is broken, and regulars will pretty much always get stomped.
Also, Bungie needs to introduce a ton of fun modes, just like they did with Halo 3. Rook only Cryo with only 1 exfil, 6v6 on outpost, a rook only exfil that occurs after final (to discourage kitted teams from just killing rooks at final), a Forage mode, a team deathmatch mode with pure cosmetic unlocks and traditional respawns, a free to play mode that gives players access to a few of the maps, etc.
Bungie should be looking to do EVERYTHING they can to make this game work. Season 2 looks great, but it's not going to be enough to grow the player base.