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I think Marathon looks pretty cool, actually – and Concord comparisons are stupid
Bungie's Marathon reveal over the weekend had a big build-up ahead of it, and I think what the studio showed and announced was a bit underwhelming. But I'm still excited to try the game out. If you judged Marathon's reception off of social media sentiment, you'd think it was the worst game of all time, "dead on arrival," a waste of time, and other intense overreactions. But that's the state of gaming discourse in 2025, unfortunately. It's an absolute mess, and it's one of the most annoying trends in the industry. Image via Bungie While a fair amount of gamers like me are waiting to try the game before making harsh judgments, many have written it off entirely after the reveal for a variety of reasons, including everything from not liking the genre to (somehow) thinking the art style is weird. And then there are those who dislike that the game has "ugly" female characters, but they're beyond saving or having discussions with. Voice your opinion, sure. But chill out a bit. Wishing for a game to fail when claiming you are a gamer is just incredibly reductive. And for those who are farming rage for engagement, let them shout into the ether. Don't engage. Form your own opinions, and play it. Or don't. That's fine. But why does every single reveal feel like the apocalypse of the game industry lately? If a game isn't for you, that's great. In fact, most gamers are playing years-old games anyway, so feel free to play whatever you like and move on from any potential excitement you had for Marathon. But continuing to harp on a game that you have no interest in playing is the actual waste of time here. One of the more annoying themes I've seen on social media since the weekend has been comparing Marathon to Concord, Sony's doomed shooter that was taken offline a few weeks after it launched due to a lack of players and interest. I really don't think this is a valid comparison. For anyone writing this game off as "another Concord" or "doomed to fail," I ask them to look towards Bungie's past games and experiences to see how, even after a rough launch, the team could come back. I hope Marathon works from the get-go (more good games to play is always a good thing), but I don't think it would be the end-all if it needed some updates to flourish. https://twitter.com/Skarrow9/status/1911617490158821515 Concord also entered a flooded market of free-to-play games in the same genre with a $40 price tag and nothing to really set itself apart from the games it was directly competing with. Marathon has Bungie gunplay and a unique art style, along with (hopefully) some interesting spins on the game type, and mostly positive reactions from those who have played it thus far. For the reveal, Bungie dropped some creator gameplay footage, a gameplay explainer video, and an incredible cinematic short film. From what I've seen so far, it looks cool, but I'm more excited to play it than anything to see if it hooks me or not. And that will be the key that matters most. Having said that, I do think that PlayStation (owner of Bungie) can look at Concord as a learning experience for a couple of reasons. The first being, why is Marathon's launch price a mystery? If it's a premium game, let people know the price, or it just looks like it's being hidden with some mysterious intent. Comparing a $40 Marathon to Concord of the same price isn't relevant, I don't think. Whereas Concord was pure hero shooter multiplayer, Marathon is going for something different with the PvPvE aspect, and eventually, I do think there will be more PvE-centric modes added to the game, which is another thing Bungie flourishes at. Speaking of Bungie, though, I think the studio and Marathon team should prepare to be receptive to feedback and not push back on so many ideas so soon. I think it's fine now to tell gamers to "wait and see," but I really hope the devs will not be hardheaded about certain approaches to the game if the community gets vocal about changes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlC31D_Rr-Y Even though most players know nothing about game dev, they do know what they want to play and how they want a game to feel in order to keep spending money on it. Listening is always a positive, and I don't think there will be as much leeway for Marathon as there was for Destiny when it made multiple comebacks throughout its largely successful live-service periods. I'm not the biggest fan of extraction shooters myself, at all. None of them have clicked with me yet. For all I know, Marathon will be the exact same, but I am a fan of Bungie's mastery of how gunplay feels in their FPS titles. For all of the faults of Destiny and Destiny 2, the games have always felt phenomenal to play. That's what I dislike about games like Escape From Tarkov or Grey Zone Warfare. If the gunplay feels good, then I'm fairly confident that the game will feel good and keep players interested. When the closed alpha begins on April 23, I'll hopefully be pl
Bungie's Marathon reveal over the weekend had a big build-up ahead of it, and I think what the studio showed and announced was a bit underwhelming. But I'm still excited to try the game out.
If you judged Marathon's reception off of social media sentiment, you'd think it was the worst game of all time, "dead on arrival," a waste of time, and other intense overreactions. But that's the state of gaming discourse in 2025, unfortunately. It's an absolute mess, and it's one of the most annoying trends in the industry.
While a fair amount of gamers like me are waiting to try the game before making harsh judgments, many have written it off entirely after the reveal for a variety of reasons, including everything from not liking the genre to (somehow) thinking the art style is weird. And then there are those who dislike that the game has "ugly" female characters, but they're beyond saving or having discussions with.
Voice your opinion, sure. But chill out a bit. Wishing for a game to fail when claiming you are a gamer is just incredibly reductive. And for those who are farming rage for engagement, let them shout into the ether. Don't engage. Form your own opinions, and play it. Or don't. That's fine. But why does every single reveal feel like the apocalypse of the game industry lately?
If a game isn't for you, that's great. In fact, most gamers are playing years-old games anyway, so feel free to play whatever you like and move on from any potential excitement you had for Marathon. But continuing to harp on a game that you have no interest in playing is the actual waste of time here.
One of the more annoying themes I've seen on social media since the weekend has been comparing Marathon to Concord, Sony's doomed shooter that was taken offline a few weeks after it launched due to a lack of players and interest. I really don't think this is a valid comparison.
For anyone writing this game off as "another Concord" or "doomed to fail," I ask them to look towards Bungie's past games and experiences to see how, even after a rough launch, the team could come back. I hope Marathon works from the get-go (more good games to play is always a good thing), but I don't think it would be the end-all if it needed some updates to flourish.
Concord also entered a flooded market of free-to-play games in the same genre with a $40 price tag and nothing to really set itself apart from the games it was directly competing with. Marathon has Bungie gunplay and a unique art style, along with (hopefully) some interesting spins on the game type, and mostly positive reactions from those who have played it thus far.
For the reveal, Bungie dropped some creator gameplay footage, a gameplay explainer video, and an incredible cinematic short film. From what I've seen so far, it looks cool, but I'm more excited to play it than anything to see if it hooks me or not. And that will be the key that matters most.
Having said that, I do think that PlayStation (owner of Bungie) can look at Concord as a learning experience for a couple of reasons. The first being, why is Marathon's launch price a mystery? If it's a premium game, let people know the price, or it just looks like it's being hidden with some mysterious intent.
Comparing a $40 Marathon to Concord of the same price isn't relevant, I don't think. Whereas Concord was pure hero shooter multiplayer, Marathon is going for something different with the PvPvE aspect, and eventually, I do think there will be more PvE-centric modes added to the game, which is another thing Bungie flourishes at.
Speaking of Bungie, though, I think the studio and Marathon team should prepare to be receptive to feedback and not push back on so many ideas so soon. I think it's fine now to tell gamers to "wait and see," but I really hope the devs will not be hardheaded about certain approaches to the game if the community gets vocal about changes.
Even though most players know nothing about game dev, they do know what they want to play and how they want a game to feel in order to keep spending money on it. Listening is always a positive, and I don't think there will be as much leeway for Marathon as there was for Destiny when it made multiple comebacks throughout its largely successful live-service periods.
I'm not the biggest fan of extraction shooters myself, at all. None of them have clicked with me yet. For all I know, Marathon will be the exact same, but I am a fan of Bungie's mastery of how gunplay feels in their FPS titles. For all of the faults of Destiny and Destiny 2, the games have always felt phenomenal to play. That's what I dislike about games like Escape From Tarkov or Grey Zone Warfare. If the gunplay feels good, then I'm fairly confident that the game will feel good and keep players interested.
When the closed alpha begins on April 23, I'll hopefully be playing and find myself looking forward to Sept. 23 for Marathon's full launch. But I'll be keeping a close eye on things and hoping that Bungie will be quick to respond to feedback with updates and changes as well.
The post I think Marathon looks pretty cool, actually – and Concord comparisons are stupid appeared first on Destructoid.
