Summary
- Bungie’s live-service extraction shooter Marathon is delayed indefinitely beyond its planned September 2025 launch.
- Developers reportedly learned about the delay simultaneously with the public announcement.
- Bungie plans further playtests to improve survival gameplay, loot, and AI challenges.
- Sony vows to avoid mistakes seen with previous troubled projects like Concord.
Marathon’s Delay and Studio Challenges
Bungie and Sony have confirmed that the extraction shooter Marathon will miss its original September 23, 2025, release date and is now delayed indefinitely. This news comes after growing criticism of the game’s difficulty balance, as players found it neither challenging enough for hardcore fans nor accessible for casual players.
According to insider journalist Paul Tassi, developers at Bungie were unaware of the delay until the public announcement was made, highlighting internal communication issues within the studio. This has fueled rumours of dysfunction and turmoil behind the scenes.
The delay of Marathon will allow the development team to focus on refining the game’s core experience—emphasising high-stakes survival, mystery, lore, and raid-like endgame challenges combined with Bungie’s signature FPS combat.
More closed playtests are planned over the coming months to improve loot systems and increase AI difficulty, aiming to create a more tense and strategic gameplay environment.
What’s Next for Marathon
With no new release date announced, Marathon is expected to miss the 2025 holiday season, likely pushing its launch into early 2026 or beyond. This avoids competition with other major Sony titles such as Ghost of Yotei.
Sony has acknowledged past mistakes with troubled live-service games like Concord and promises to apply those lessons to support Marathon’s development and eventual launch.
