Bungie to Unveil Marathon Gameplay in Upcoming Livestream

Bungie is gearing up to unveil more of its highly anticipated PvP extraction shooter, Marathon, with an exciting gameplay livestream scheduled for this Saturday, April 12 (or Sunday, April 13, depending on your location). The excitement started last week when the Destiny developer teased fans with a cryptic tweet featuring a mysterious 15-second video, sparking a global sleuthing effort as part of an intricate alternative reality game.

Eagle-eyed players quickly noticed that the ASCII art in the video contained "a snippet of footage from the initial trailer," specifically showing "the runner sprinting down a hall from the trailer." Another intriguing message added to the mystery: "WHEN WILL HE RETURN ERROR ERROR ERROR HAS OCCURRED THE ENEMY RETURNED SYSTEM WARNING: PROTOCOL BREACH EVACUATE THE BASE IMMEDIATELY ALL UNITS REPORT TO STATION INITIATE EMERGENCY PROTOCOL 7 DATA LOSS IMMINENT GOOD LUCK, COMMANDER."

Bungie praised the community's collaborative effort, stating, "Thousands of community members across the world worked together to unlock the gameplay reveal date for Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter Marathon." The livestream is set for 10 am PDT (San Francisco) / 1 pm EDT (New York) / 6 pm BST (London) / 7 pm CEST (Berlin/Paris) / 9 pm GST (Dubai) or Sunday, April 13 at 2 am JST (Tokyo) / 3 am AEST (Sydney) / 5 pm NZST (Auckland).

Marathon was revealed in May 2023 as a reboot of the classic Bungie franchise, emphasizing themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." The game is set on the enigmatic planet of Tau Ceti IV, where players take on the roles of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries equipped to withstand the planet's harsh conditions. As they explore the remnants of a lost colony, players will hunt for valuable loot, including new weapons and gear.

Since the initial reveal, updates have been scarce. We did receive a development update video in October that shed light on Marathon's mechanics, but Bungie emphasized that the game was still in the early stages of development.

Amidst these developments, Sony has been reevaluating its approach to live-service games. Following the abrupt cancellation of the live-service shooter Concord, Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced in November 2023 that the company was committed to launching just six of the 12 live service games it was working on by March 2026. This shift also led to the cancellation of The Last of Us multiplayer game.

Bungie itself has faced its share of challenges. In July 2024, the studio laid off 220 staff members, representing 17% of its workforce, less than a year after 100 other layoffs at Bungie. Additionally, just weeks later, it was revealed that former Marathon director Chris Barrett was allegedly fired following an internal misconduct investigation at Bungie. Barrett subsequently sued Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bungie for more than $200 million.

To catch the Marathon gameplay reveal live, tune in to the official Marathon Twitch channel on April 12.