A Marathon trailer at the 2023 PlayStation Showcase was a huge surprise. Bungie’s digging deep into its past to reboot the FPS series that was basically the Mac OS version of Doom back in the early 90s. Marathon helped launch Bungie into mainstream recognition and was foundational for Halo. In some ways, it also informed the development of Destiny, which is perhaps more popular than ever.
Following its reveal from the showcase, Bungie’s Editorial Lead Brian Ekberg took to the PlayStation Blog to give us some information about what this new version of Marathon will be like. Instead of being a single-player focused shooter, Marathon will be centered on PvP.
Game Director Christopher Barrett said, “With the PvP experience as our foundation, we’re creating opportunities for player-driven stories to unfold, stories that are integrated with the overarching game narrative.”
It seems as if Marathon will play similarly to Destiny, then. One detail mentioned is that while players will do combat in smaller arenas, there will be persistent zones in a larger world where combat can leave a lasting impact. Players will also be able to discover new hubs within the larger world that allow other teams to explore new areas with them. There is some kind of overarching narrative, but Marathon is being positioned to be more about player-to-player interaction than a linear path.
While the Sony stream only confirmed Marathon for PS5, a new Twitter account for the series has announced that it will also be available on PC and Xbox Series X|S. There is currently no planned release date.
