Marathon, the PvPvE extraction shooter developed by Bungie, has become a major talking point as we approach its proposed release on September 23, 2025, for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. The announcement moved the game to the far end of Saturn, based on Bungie’s intention to fix significant portions of it. However, it’s being said by Sony that the new Marathon Bungie release date will fall before the close of its financial year, which is finished in March 2026.
Insider news on the subject spoke of a delay caused by “disappointingly received early testing.” Players were after better AI, deeper stories, and shinier visuals. Lin Tao, CFO of Sony, mentioned it in a meeting a few days ago. She mentioned that development is on track, and a new date will be presented in the fall. While she did not guarantee it, she strongly indicated the cancellation would not occur for Bungie’s Marathon.
The gist is that Marathon is a three-person squad game moving through perilous missions to loot while fighting players and AI enemies. Survive and extract, and you will keep whatever you find, meaning your gear and weapons level up with your loadout. I’d played some games of that genre before, like Escape from Tarkov, and that whole “risk everything/lose everything” idea is both tense and addictive.
One important thing that Bungie settled on was making Marathon a purchase game rather than a free-to-play game. These days, most live-service games are forcing microtransactions from day one. Marathon is going to be launched as a stand-alone, fully-fledged product, and we intend to support it afterward. For someone like me, who is slightly tired of the monetization scheme, this is refreshing.
But that is not the only reason why the delay in the release of Marathon is making waves. Bungie is also undergoing a considerable change, transitioning from independent operation under Sony to full integration into the PlayStation Studios umbrella. Initially, when Sony acquired Bungie, they allowed the studio quite a degree of freedom. Now, that degree of freedom is apparently changing.
Reports suggest that the Bungie-PlayStation integration is already in the works. Bungie has faced a rough few months, with speculation surrounding the delays of Destiny 2, player layoffs, and now the latest controversy surrounding the art assets of Marathon, creating speculation that Bungie is still capable of delivering the great return on investment that Sony is looking for.
The initial intent was for Bungie to assist Sony with ramping up live-service games under the PlayStation 5 banner. But with those problems, Sony has decided to come in much closer. Full integration means that they have full control over scheduling, quality checks, and making sure Bungie’s work is in line with the overall plans of PlayStation.
This can go one way or another. On the one hand, Bungie, with the integration of the PlayStation, is gaining access to all the development and publishing resources available. On the other side, this puts them under much tighter corporate constraints, something they have hardly faced since leaving Microsoft in 2007.
Piling the pressure on Marathon is defensive for Bungie: Many consider this their way back to proving that they are able to make a live-game hit again after Destiny 2 saw a decline in its player base. Delays may annoy the fans; in all truth, I think that it is for the best to wait for a polished release rather than one that’s rushed.
This shows that Sony has a good internal testing faith in the project already. By the time the Fall update comes, we will know whether they have made enough progress with AI, story, and visual to attract players back.
Extraction shooters are alive and well nowadays, riding off the success of Escape from Tarkov and The Cycle: Frontier. For Bungie to have Marathon climb this hill, it should somehow feel different from all the other popular casual shooters while at the same time being accessible to new players. Finding this equilibrium will largely determine Marathon’s long-term success.
This Bungie-PlayStation integration may also change other games aside from just Marathon. Should Sony’s studios interact more, perhaps we’ll see shared technologies, cross-promotional efforts, or even crossover content with other franchises on PlayStation.
By the time of the fall announcement, Bungie needs to justify that this time lost was time wisely possibly spent. Should they manage to do so, Marathon may signal the comeback Bungie is looking for.
As March 2026 draws ever closer, so much is riding on how Marathon ultimately fares for Bungie’s reputation and Sony’s live-service plans. If it launches strongly, Bungie could find itself right up there among PlayStation’s premier studios. If not, the reputation damage may be very hard to come back from.
When that date drops, we’re going to know whether Marathon is Bungie’s tale of redemption or just another reminder about the perils of live-service gaming.
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