Bungie’s Marathon delayed indefinitely; major design changes imminent

Bungie’s Marathon has been delayed indefinitely, the Seattle-based studio announced via a new blog post on its official website. The first-person extraction shooter will not launch on September 23, 2025, as previously announced. No new release date has been confirmed at the time of writing. 

Marathon has been riddled with controversies ever since its announcement in 2023. The Destiny community, Bungie's other major franchise, was bitter over it being a PvP extraction-shooter game instead of a more casual, PvE looter-shooter title. Furthermore, underwhelming alpha test feedback and stolen art allegations continuously put Marathon in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. 

So, it seems the decision to delay Marathon was made for Bungie despite the studio stating it would release on time.

With everything that’s been going on, Marathon’s delay announcement seemed inevitable. In its blog post, Bungie explained that Marathon needs more time in the oven. “We know we need more time to craft Marathon into the game that truly reflects your passion,” Bungie wrote in the blog post. It added, “After much discussion within our Dev team, we’ve made the decision to delay the September 23rd release.”

The studio also revealed its plans to overhaul certain aspects of the game based on the recent Alpha test feedback. It includes changes to the game’s overall tone, visual fidelity, enhanced survival mechanics, and a plethora of quality-of-life improvements. The extra time is to implement these changes and continue closed testing with players to prep Marathon for launch. 

If you didn't know, the Marathon controversy reached its peak after artist Antireal took to X to accuse Bungie of using their art without permission in Marathon. Interestingly, it wasn't the first time Bungie was blamed for plagiarism. Previous, lesser-known cases include the usage of fan art in a cutscene and weapon design in Destiny 2. 

The Marathon situation, however, gained much attention because a side-by-side comparison of Antireal’s and Marathon's art made it crystal clear how deeply rooted the former was in every ounce of the latter's art style.

Since then, Bungie has publicly acknowledged the issue and claimed that it was “unknown” by the existing art team, despite it being public knowledge that the game’s art director, Joseph Cross, follows Antireal on Twitter/X. 

Although Marathon has been indefinitely delayed, Bungie plans to give an update this fall about its development and a new release date. If you’re a Bungie fan, however, there’s still plenty to be excited about. Destiny 2's Fate Saga is set to begin this July with The Edge of Fate expansion. 

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