Bungie has officially scrapped Marathon’s original release date.
The September 23, 2025, launch date has been pushed back indefinitely with no new release date set.
The studio has promised more details sometime this fall, but even that feels tentative. It’s a reaction to a pileup of issues happening out of sight.
Was Marathon’s Alpha Always Doomed to Fail?
Much of the backlash is due to Marathon’s underwhelming alpha test, where expectations for innovation from the Halo and Destiny creators gave way to a flat, uninspired, and overly familiar game.
Early players criticized the alpha for its clunky mechanics, generic presentation, and a gameplay loop that felt more like a bonus mode than its own game.
Many thought Bungie was just jumping on the extraction shooter bandwagon instead of making a meaningful game. Making matters worse was the discovery that Marathon contained plagiarized art assets, and one piece was so blatant that Bungie had no choice but to admit it.
The company blamed a now-departed team member, but multiple artists inside the studio were found to have been following the original creator’s work for years.
This created legal problems, broke trust, and caused Bungie to begin an extensive audit of its art pipeline. All assets must be recreated from scratch, which might take months and eat up more of the budget.
Bungie is already in a fragile spot, and this only adds to it. The studio’s morale reportedly suffered a severe blow after layoffs in late 2024 and Destiny 2’s slowdown post-Final Shape.
What’s Sony Doing to Prevent Another Flop?
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hermen Hulst acknowledged the “varied” response to the alpha but insisted that Marathon still has a place in their live-service lineup.
After Concord flopped, Sony is determined not to repeat the same mistake. They’ve increased internal scrutiny and require Bungie to undergo more rigorous testing and revision phases.
The hope is to avoid another public flop, but behind the scenes, many fans feel the damage has already been done.
What Exactly Is Bungie Planning to Fix?
The first of Bungie’s three-step fix plan is redesigning Marathon’s core gameplay loop.
That means smarter AI, more meaningful loot, and a higher level of challenge. Second, the world-building will also be expanded to better fit the Marathon trilogy’s style with a darker mood, more immersive environmental storytelling, and improved visual detail.
Last but not least, social features will be redesigned. Solo and duo support will be added (instead of locking players into trios), and proximity chat will return after being previously rejected.
Is It Too Late for Bungie to Win Players Back?
Despite the roadmap, public opinion remains skeptical, and many players feel Bungie strayed too far from what it does best.
Instead of building on Destiny’s strengths or reviving Marathon’s classic identity, the studio tried to shoehorn itself into a niche genre with limited mainstream appeal.
Extraction shooters may have a passionate fanbase, but haven’t proven they can anchor a AAA live-service ecosystem. Worse yet, many of Bungie’s core audience simply doesn’t care about this genre. Time will tell if Marathon can turn things around.
Bungie promises an update this fall, a new release date, and a progress report on the rework. However, there is increasing concern internally that polishing won’t address the game’s fundamental issues.
As Sony clamps down and Destiny 2 barely hangs on, Bungie’s ambitions and maybe its freedom could hinge on Marathon’s comeback. For now, the Marathon is delayed.
It needed more time, not just because it was dangerously close to being another Concord, and no one at Sony can afford to let that happen again.
Stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com: the best site for Marathon coverage.