Bungie has announced the revival of its Marathon franchise at the recently concluded PlayStation showcase, nearly 26 years after the original trilogy concluded with Marathon Infinity in 1996. The original three games were sci-fi FPS shooters, but Bungie is revamping the game as an extraction PvP shooter.
The Marathon trilogy, consisting of Marathon, Marathon: Durandal, and Marathon Infinity were successors to Bungie’s previous FPS shooter, Pathways into Darkness. The Marathon games were originally released for Macintosh between 1994-1996, which cemented Bungie’s place in the FPS genre. Interestingly, Marathon was one of the first titles to include a “mouselook” feature, which went on to become a standard in FPS games. A rumor from October 2022 had already revealed Bungie’s intention to revive Marathon, and now the classic franchise is making a comeback in a new genre, which will become Bungie’s first new game after the launch of Destiny 2 in 2017.
The description for Marathon on its official website reads, “Become a runner in Bungie’s new sci-fi pvp extraction shooter. Compete for survival, riches, and renown in a world of evolving, persistent zones, where any run can lead to greatness.” The character models in the teaser for the game didn’t reveal any other information, but the official website confirms that the game will be set in the year 2850 on Tau Ceti, which was where the players had to travel in the 1994 Marathon game. In addition to this, it is also revealed that the player characters called “Runners” will be able to shift their consciousness to different bodies through clone technology, which ensures that they never really die.
As for the game’s story, players will traverse a lost colony on Tau Ceti IV, where over 30,000 residents mysteriously disappeared, leaving the place to be explored for treasures and mysterious artifacts. It will also see the return of the AIs in some form that were an important part of the original games and eventually became an inspiration for the Halo series.
Marathon’s general manager, Scott Taylor said that the game will look, sound, and play completely different from any other Bungie game, which many believe is a tough undertaking considering Bungie's expertise in the FPS genre. Its game director is former Destiny director, Christopher Barrett, who mentioned how “The team is committed to creating a PvP-first gameplay experience full of tension and excitement, all set in a persistent, dynamic, narratively rich online world where players’ actions have ramifications on each unfolding season.”
After acquiring Bungie, Sony had mentioned wanting to release multiple live-service games, and Marathon looks like one of the first big ones in that category. The game currently doesn't have a release date or window but will support cross-play and cross-save for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Marathon is currently in development.