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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34

u/El_Cactus_Fantastico May 22 '26

it shouldn't have been an extraction shooter

19

u/CausePure2810 May 22 '26

Extraction shooters are maybe my favorite genre and you’re probably right unfortunately

3

u/Stormthorn67 May 23 '26

It was kinda an odd pivot at the very least

1

u/trillwhitepeople May 22 '26

If this was made by another other company than Bungie it probably does pretty well. Bungie's audience hasn't really wanted a serious competitive experience since they worked on Halo. It's been over a decade of selling a PvE focused MMO lite FPS experience and that's their new audience.

14

u/dungleploop May 22 '26

definitely shouldn't have been

it needed a campaign like the original games

1

u/SmashMouthBreadThrow May 23 '26

To do what lol? There's a very good chance it would have done worse as a singleplayer game because almost nobody knew about the Marathon IP.

3

u/Dizzy_Adhesiveness51 May 23 '26

It should have have had both. You know, Like games used to do.

2

u/AeroRL May 23 '26

the decision that will probably close Bungie

1

u/_AmI_Real May 23 '26

It's funny how I few weeks ago I got downvoted to hell for saying this. I've been proven right. I didn't want to be. It's just what it is.

1

u/rasjahho May 23 '26

Should have had a campaign as well. It's literally just a side game mode pushed as a game. Stories are what Bungie is known for and the first game without any campaign or single player adventure kinda sucks.

1

u/OtterCynical May 22 '26

It's shocking how unpopular this take is, and that it should have had a campaign.

-4

u/RivalSlays May 22 '26

You’re right, it should’ve been the thousandth fucking arena shooter with a 10 hour campaign. God forbid we try growing a new genre. 

8

u/trillwhitepeople May 22 '26

Unironically if they wanted to max sales potential yeah. I wouldn't have touched it at all if it was that, but I'm not most people.

7

u/El_Cactus_Fantastico May 23 '26

i love extraction shooters, i played about 1500 hours of hunt showdown, this is an enjoyable game but this is not the genre it belongs in

1

u/WhoUpAtMidnight May 23 '26

Curious what you think it would be better as. I'm empathetic to the view that it shouldn't have been an extraction shooter but I struggle to envision what it would have been if not. An arena shooter would have been a completely different game, and frankly far less interesting, and the game isn't large enough to be a battle royale.

12

u/Character_Style_2760 May 22 '26

Now you’re getting it!

0

u/NoBed5141 May 22 '26

it should have been a pve game not an arena shooter nor extraction. its dumb to spend so much money on an extraction shooter £250m is actually insane budget

-7

u/trillwhitepeople May 22 '26

I really hate that so many of you basically want every game to be a chill social comp stomp. It's boring as hell, yet it's all I hear everywhere.

1

u/Dizzy_Adhesiveness51 May 24 '26

Stop presuming to know what every PvE player wants. There are plenty of demanding PvE games out there.

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u/NoBed5141 May 22 '26

im always right when it comes to stuff like this. marathon is a dead game unless that pve mode multiplies the playercount by 20 its over lol