Responding to fears that Marathon’s future will dictate Destiny support, Bungie product head Josh Deane encourages players to support only the games they enjoy.
In a lengthy blog post sharing hopes for a “new forever Destiny” and “Destiny ‘Legacy'” project, Deane noted that, “we will all tell you that nothing can help bridge us into [the] future more than for Marathon to rapidly evolve and become sustainable.”
On the heels of some heady talk of business plans, milestones, and project progress bars, some readers interpreted this as a sign that the health of Destiny 2 hinges on the state of Marathon. While it’s surely true that greater success for Marathon would put Bungie in a healthier spot as a business, Deane stresses, in a series of tweets, that “in no way is the Destiny plan contingent upon Marathon.”
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“I understand my intent is being mistranslated here and that’s on me,” he says of his Marathon comments. “Play what inspires you, whatever it is. Mainly hoping we can accomplish our goals in both lanes with a stronger relationship with our entire community!”
“Just looking to serve players that love both/either worlds while we build the future,” a separate reply adds. “But definitely not asking players to support x to get y, and not building the plan that way. Just personally believe that there is an empowering force for that future if there is shared encouragement, and respect, as a Bungie community!”
Two additional replies narrow the focus. “Don’t buy Marathon as a donation or offer anything else,” Deane says. “It’s our job to show up for you.”
“Only buy or play a thing that inspires you from us / you think is cool!” he reiterates. “We will find our way back home with Destiny.”
Now-former Marathon game director Joe Ziegler, another in a string of high-profile departures, previously told us that Marathon was never meant to replace Destiny 2, nor did the two games necessarily have a lot of overlap in player appeal. In urgent efforts to bolt on a compelling PvE mode, Bungie’s actively injecting a little bit more Destiny into Marathon today.
In September, Bungie acknowledged that Marathon “did not reach as many players as we had hoped.” The game’s active user base has collapsed since launch – down from a peak of 88,000 on Steam to a daily average in the range of 2,000 or 3,000. Some decline is expected for any live game post-launch, but Marathon is definitely struggling, and it has been for months with seasonal updates failing to rekindle the game.
The player response echoes a feedback loop also seen in Destiny 2 PvP: as lower-skill or casual players leave Marathon, lobbies become more grueling, queue times get longer, and getting into the game or making meaningful progress becomes more difficult with hardcore veterans pouncing on any fresh meat. Marathon’s unflinchingly harsh design philosophy already turned some people away at the door, and this spiral only made things worse. But the game’s problems, like offering compelling reasons to redo seasonal progression after mandatory wipes, run deeper.
Some people learned to love the pain, of course, as Andy does in our Marathon review. I also put 130 hours into the game in what now feels like a cough syrup fever dream. But after many costly years in development, Bungie’s going to need more than a small group of sickos to keep Marathon alive. So even if the two games are decoupled, the future of Destiny and Marathon remains uncertain.