Marathon Hasn’t Sold Well, but the People Who Are Playing It Absolutely Love It

The big question here is whether Marathon has not only done the business for Bungie, but for Sony. Bungie is under pressure to deliver for Sony after recent and very public financial failings. In November, Sony said Bungie had failed to meet its sales and user engagement expectations, recording a 31.5 billion yen (approx. $204.2 million) impairment charge as a result of Destiny 2’s underperformance. That was significant enough to drag down profits at Sony’s Game & Network Services Segment, which includes Sony Interactive Entertainment.

In August, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons left the company after 23 years and nearly 10 as CEO. He was succeeded by Justin Truman, previously chief development officer and fellow Bungie veteran. Parsons oversaw Bungie during many turbulent years, first taking over as CEO in 2016 from Harold Ryan and overseeing its break from Activision in 2019. He was at the helm throughout many of the events catalogued in our 2021 expose of Bungie’s internal work culture. Just months after our report, Bungie was acquired by Sony for $3.7 billion, ending the studio’s flirtation with independence.

“Marathon hasn’t exactly made the splash Sony and Bungie wanted, even if the game underneath the surface is a masterwork of design,” Rhys Elliott, Alinea Analytics’ Head of Market Analysis, said. “There’s a lot to love about Marathon — and the show ain’t over yet.”

Indeed, Marathon is proving to be sticky. According to Alinea Analytics, it’s holding steady with 345,000 daily active users (DAUs) and averaging 380,000 DAUs across the weekend. On Steam, Marathon’s average playtime has climbed to 27.8 hours, significantly outpacing the console averages on PS5 (16.5 hours) and Xbox (17.3 hours).

What does this all tell us? Well, we’ll probably have to wait for Sony’s next financial results to find out if it’s happy with Marathon’s commercial performance. As for Bungie itself, it may have made a game too hardcore to enjoy the kind of breakout sales that fellow extraction shooter Arc Raiders enjoyed last year. Marathon is a difficult game; if you die, you lose all your gear. And not just what you looted while out on the battlefield, but what you brought in. And given how easy it is to die in Marathon, it can feel like a brutally punishing video game. Are people bouncing off Marathon because of this? Were some put off by its steep learning curve?

Bungie has repeatedly said that while Marathon has a steep learning curve, over time, recovering from a bad loss gets easier. But then Marathon’s recently launched raid-like experience, Cryo Archive, doubled down on the ultra hardcore experience, with several requirements you need to meet in order to access it. Players need to be season level 25, have all factions unlocked (completing the initial liaison contracts), and queue in with a loadout value of $5k credits or higher. It launched only on weekends, too, although Bungie has since made changes to its schedule to make it more accessible.

Former professional Counter-Strike player, Shroud, said that while Cryo Archive offers an incredible experience, it’s too difficult for casual players. Speaking in a recent stream, the influential gamer said: “Cryo Archive is insane. It’s the most elaborate extraction shooter map I’ve ever seen in a game ever. The loop that they made is truly something special. The problem is, is it too elaborate? Is it too complex? Is it too much of a grind? Is your 9-5 grandma and grandpa going to be able to do it? I don’t know.”

Where does Bungie go from here? Marathon is far from a Concord-style live service disaster, but it’s clear Bungie needs to do something to increase those sales. Simply making Marathon easier may not be enough to do the trick, and would run the risk of alienating those who currently love it the way it is. Could a single-player or PvE campaign spark renewed interest? Could a traditional PvP mode help? Onboarding seems like something Bungie will have to look at, given how so many have struggled with Marathon’s initially bemusing systems.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.