All articles tagged with #marathon
Bungie is extending Marathon's Vault Breaker PvE beta to August 18 to gather more data on player interest and retention after a July 28 update added a solo queue and enemy AI tweaks, with solo difficulties adjusted and a planned mid-season Season 3 PvE expansion in September; the test has shown only a small blip in concurrent players so far.
Marathon's new update adds Vault Breaker, a two-week, roguelite PvE mode (solo/duo/trio) on the Cryo Archive map as part of Season 2; you upgrade a starting Sponsored Kit with Vault Data earned from raiding vaults and extracting, but Vault Breaker gear cannot be used in the normal game. Vault Data can be spent in the Vault Breaker Armory for gear usable outside the mode, and you can earn Tier One Vault Data for killing a USEC Commander even if you don’t extract. A full PvE mode is planned for Season 3, with Bungie also having layoffs and the departure of Marathon director Joe Ziegler.
Windows Central reports Marathon’s Steam concurrent players have collapsed (roughly 6,000 at peak) compared with Destiny 2’s ~60,000, highlighting Bungie’s pivot from Destiny to Marathon, recent layoffs, and a declining valuation after Sony’s $3.6B acquisition. With Marathon’s game director Joseph Ziegler departed and a two-week limited PvE mode added to Marathon, the studio’s long-term future looks uncertain, potentially as a support studio rather than a leading live-service developer.
Marathon's game director Joe Ziegler is leaving Bungie on July 17, handing leadership to assistant game director Del Chafe III to guide the extraction shooter forward alongside creative director Julia Nardin. The move comes amid a broader Bungie leadership shake-up after mass layoffs and a continued decline in Marathon’s player base, which hit a low around 2,030 players on Steam, with a PvE mode not expected until fall as Sony remains committed to the project.
Bungie reveals a fall rollout for Marathon’s PvE future, launching Vault Breaker—an experimental PvE mode built around Cryo Archive and running July 21–Aug 4—as a bridge to a full PvE experience in Season 3 after September 22; a mid-season update adds a roguelite Cryo Archive variant and balance tweaks to weapons, grenades, bubble shields, and consumables as the team gathers feedback for Season 3.
Sony, Bungie, and former Bungie director Christopher Barrett have settled his $100 million lawsuit alleging termination to dodge roughly $80 million in sale bonuses from Bungie’s 2022 acquisition; Barrett’s name is being added to Marathon’s credits, a stipulation framed as vindication, while Bungie braces for further layoffs and Marathon development continues.
Kotaku reports a viral tale of a Marathon player nicknamed Steve who allegedly reached level 45 by only killing robots and avoiding extraction, looting, or quests. While some doubt he’s real, video proof exists, illustrating that tutorials aren’t universal and players can discover systems on their own. After learning more about the game, Steve has started playing Thief and has climbed to at least level 52 with some extractions, showing how one person’s curiosity can shape a game experience.
A viral tale about a gamer nicknamed 'Steve' who spent hours playing Marathon without understanding its core mechanics, used as a lens to critique onboarding in modern games and to celebrate how players can still enjoy complex titles even when they miss key concepts.
Bungie’s Marathon Season 2 mid-season patch adds Vault Breaker, an endgame PvE mode on the Cryo Archive map for solo/duo/crew play with progressively challenging vaults and no PvP, plus a new Vault Data currency to upgrade Vault Breaker kits or gear; entrants use a Sponsored Kit and must leave gear behind to avoid loot hoarding. The update also debuts Cradle Evolution with persistent upgrades and a reset path for extra max Energy and cosmetics, plus faster Cradle progression. It lands July 21, ahead of Season 3 on September 22, which will bring major early-game changes, new weapons and gear, and more.
Bungie announced Vault Breaker, Marathon's new PvE mode that sends players into Cryo Archive’s endgame vaults with solo, duo, or crew options. Unlike typical extraction shooters, loot isn’t kept on exfil; instead players earn Vault Data to upgrade Sponsored Kits, providing PvE progression without flooding the economy with Cryo loot.
Bungie reveals Vault Breaker, a PvE-only mode in Marathon on Cryo Archive designed for solo, duo, or trio play. Loot isn’t carried over except Vault Data, which upgrades your Vault Breaker kit and can be exchanged for gear, aiming to keep the economy balanced. A mid-season update will bring QoL tweaks, then Season 3 in September will overhaul the early game with Perimeter revamps, a new Runner shell, and more content.
Bungie and external collaborators are publicly revealing the extensive artwork behind Marathon, showcasing internal and contractor contributions through a gallery-style feature with artist credits and links to each creator’s portfolio.
Bungie’s extraction shooter Marathon Season 2 is dealing with a bloated loot economy, with players earning the same amount of loot by week 2 as in week 11 of Season 1 and a bug inflating high-rarity drops. A June 16 patch introduced weekly rewards while nerfing some loot sources and Cradle XP in an early attempt to rebalance progression, but players fear the pace is too fast and some call for drastic fixes before Season 3.
Insider Gaming reports Bungie may cut roughly 400 of its ~800 employees this summer, driven by Destiny 2’s sunset and Marathon’s underwhelming launch, with no Destiny 3 in sight; the story also notes Sony’s ownership of Bungie and mentions broader industry layoffs at Xbox and Ubisoft as part of a turbulent summer for game studios.
A French journalist claims Bungie could lay off at least 50% of its staff this summer as Destiny 2 winds down and Marathon developments loom, a claim echoed by earlier Bloomberg reporting of significant layoffs. There’s no plan for Destiny 3, and the chatter comes amid Sony’s acquisition of Bungie and broader industry-wide layoff rumors, with July 1 cited as a potential reference date.