In a rather unsurprising announcement, Bungie has delayed the release of Marathon indefinitely so that the team can work on addressing fan feedback. Several reasons are cited for the delay, but conspicuously, the recent plagiarism debacle was not mentioned, despite it most likely being one of, if not the, single biggest reason for the delay.
“Through every comment and real-time conversation on social media and Discord, your voice has been strong and clear,” reads a short blog post on the Bungie website. “We’ve taken this to heart, and we know we need more time to craft Marathon into the game that truly reflects your passion. After much discussion within our Dev team, we’ve made the decision to delay the September 23rd release.”
The blog post cites the recent alpha as a major reason for the decision. Player reactions were very mixed.
“The Alpha test created an opportunity for us to calibrate and focus the game on what will make it uniquely compelling—survival under pressure, mystery and lore around every corner, raid-like endgame challenges, and Bungie’s genre-defining FPS combat.”
The blog post also highlights want the team wants to add into the game following the feedback:
- “Upping the Survival Game
- More challenging and engaging AI encounters
- More rewarding runs, with new types of loot and dynamic events
- Making combat more tense and strategic
- Doubling down on the Marathon Universe
- Increased visual fidelity
- More narrative and environmental storytelling to discover and interact with
- A darker tone that delivers on the themes of the original trilogy
- Adding more social experiences
- A better player experience for solo/duos
- Prox chat, so social stories can come to life”
Notably absent from the statement was the recent stolen artwork disaster. Scottish artist Fern “Antireal” Hook accused Bungie of lifting designs from her 2017 posters and using them in Marathon, complete with her logo and stylistic motifs evident in textures and UI. Bungie has acknowledged the misstep, attributing it to a former in‑house artist who slipped unauthorized art into a texture sheet, and says the current team was unaware. The developer has pledged to scrub the build, tighten internal checks, and reach out to Hook—and vowed to “do right by the artist” . But this marks at least the fourth time in recent years that Bungie has faced similar accusations, sparking concerns that these aren’t isolated oversights but symptoms of systemic issues.
This plagiarism is a major issue for the development of the game because the team will need to rake through every single piece of art, every texture and every little crevice of the game to ensure there’s no other stolen artwork. That’s not small task. Then there’s the possibility that the team may decide to rework the game’s art style, because even though Marathon’s artistic style can be traced deep into Bungie’s history, it also shares an aesthetic with Antireal and both Bungie and Sony might want to try to differentiate them.
A report written by Paul Tassi of Forbes shortly after the plagiarism scandal detailed how Bungie’s morale was in freefall. Interestingly, the same report said that there was no plans to delay the game at the time, even while the team was worried about launching Marathon into a “now actively hostile environment.”
This whole thing has to be worrying for both Sony and Bungie. Sony spent a lot of money to acquire Bungie, with a lot of emphasis placed on Bungie’s live-service success in the form of Destiny 2. But Sony’s live-service push hasn’t been going well, with only Helldivers 2 actually being a success. Most of their other live service projects have been cancelled, and Concord was nothing short of a dumpster fire. While Marathon will at least stand a better chance than Concord based purely on Bungie’s name still carrying some weight, insider reports suggest Bungie is worried the game will flop. The initial reception to its announcement was tepid, the recent beta saw player numbers decline quickly and the plagiarism scandal resulted in another blow to Bungie’s already tattered reputation.
“You’ll hear from us again later this Fall when we can share the progress we’ve made, alongside the game’s new release date. Thank you again for your patience and— much more importantly— your passion. Your continued feedback will help us make Marathon the incredible gaming experience we all know it can be,” says Bungie.