Marathon Delay Likely as Sony Cancels All Paid Marketing Plans

Ezekiel 25:17

Veteran
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
36,408
Reputation
2,850
Daps
129,882
Bungie’s Marathon is likely to be delayed as a new report claims Sony has now canceled all paid marketing plans.

Bungie’s upcoming shooter, Marathon, just can’t seem to catch a break. What started as a highly anticipated Closed Alpha Test has hit roadblock after roadblock, leaving fans wondering if the game will actually see the light of day this year.

First, the studio was rocked by an art theft scandal when it was revealed that some of Marathon’s promotional materials and in-game art were directly copied from an indie artist’s work, ANTIREAL. Bungie quickly apologized and promised to review all assets, but the damage was already done.

Marathon Dev Q&A Reveals Huge Changes: Faction Quests, Matchmaking, Training Mode, Player Customization, Visuals, Maps, and More
Image: Bungie
Following the whole art theft controversy, several reports have now painted a pretty troubling picture of what’s happening behind the scenes at Bungie. Multiple sources say morale among the developers is in “free fall,” with many team members feeling frustrated by leadership decisions and the overall direction of the project.

Some have even gone as far as calling Marathon’s leadership “toxic and humiliating” to work with, saying that warnings about focusing only on PvP were brought up early on but were completely ignored by higher-ups.

Update, May 28, 4:16 PM PT: Moriarty has clarified his comment about Marathon’s marketing. In a new post on X, he explained that he was only referring to the current lack of paid marketing plans in one specific overseas market, not a global cancellation by Sony.

“Me talking about immediately-known plans in a single territory doesn’t equate to ‘Sony has cancelled all its paid marketing plans for Marathon.’ Maybe they have, I have no idea. It actually wouldn’t surprise me; the game is clearly in enormous peril and should be delayed.”

Original story: On top of that, another report claimed that after the mixed reaction to the Closed Alpha, Bungie pushed back its marketing and pre-order plans that were supposed to go live in June, and the big open beta was replaced with “public playtests.”

Bungie Extends Marathon Closed Alpha Test, Major Faction Changes and AI Buffs Incoming
Image: Bungie

Sony Reportedly Cancels All Paid Marketing For Marathon, Delay Incoming?​

Now, a new report claims that Sony has cancelled all paid marketing plans for Marathon. This information comes from Colin Moriarty, who shared the news in the latest (paywalled) episode of the Sacred Symbols+ podcast. This reportedly came from someone familiar with the marketing efforts in an overseas market, and is “considered a fairly unusual move for a game of this high profile.”

“I was told by someone familiar with marketing plans in a key overseas market that there are now no plans to do paid marketing for Marathon at all,” Moriarty said during the podcast. “I don’t know if those plans were affected by what has recently happened or if that was always the plan or whatever. But it is considered a fairly unusual move for a game of this high profile.”

With everything going on, the art plagiarism controversy, mixed-to-negative feedback from the Closed Alpha, and now no paid marketing plans from Sony, it’s hard not to see a delay on the horizon. Pushing forward with the planned September 23 launch could honestly make things even worse for Bungie and Marathon.
 

Rice N Beans

Junior Hayley Stan
Supporter
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
11,531
Reputation
1,806
Daps
24,099
Reppin
Chicago, IL
Really don’t understand why these companies refuse to include single player campaigns

It's easier to release a multiplayer game early and mask it under GaaS. Doesn't even matter what part of the development cycle you're on. Just slap GaaS and you've instantly bought 3 years of free goodwill with homers doing your good press for free.

MS tried to pull this with the SP side, but it shat out the turds of Halo Infinite and Forza Motorsport as examples of why you shouldn't adopt MP cons to SP. :lolbron:
 

MrLogic

Superstar
Supporter
Joined
May 24, 2022
Messages
8,029
Reputation
1,101
Daps
21,530
Reppin
Cash
Really don’t understand why these companies refuse to include single player campaigns
Not sure if this is the reason but I think some of these devs think twitch communities is all of gaming.

so they gonna die on that Multiplayer only hill.
 
Top