Marathon developer Bungie has made plans to attempt to expand its potential player base with new offerings, such as a PvE-only mode. Despite receiving positive reviews and a dedicated player base, reports have indicated that Marathon has struggled to find wider appeal in gaming. It makes sense that Bungie is at least aware of this, though they previously stated they had years of content planned, and it seems the company has plans to make the game more approachable sooner rather than later.
Covered in a new and massive Blog post from the studio, Bungie outlined plans for Marathon going forward. One of such plans is listed, and arguably the biggest change coming in the near future is a PVE mode that will be introduced with Season 2 of the game. This will be a new mode, removing potential conflicts with other players and emphasizing co-operation with your team to complete objectives, fight the map’s enemies, and grab as much loot as you can. In addition to this mode, a “PVE, but with a light touch of PVP,” mode to split the difference between these two is intended, though no information has been given on how this will work.
While this change gives players more ways to enjoy Marathon, it does not mean PVP mode is going away or will no longer remain a focus for the development team. Bungie has also teased that they are developing a new PVP-focused mode as part of their plans to introduce more experimental modes in Marathon. Bungie has stated its ultimate goal was for “players to experience the thrill and danger of surviving on the edge of the explored universe,” and their “plan is to commit to that mission by both going deeper and expanding on that definition.”
Bungie also outlined plans to improve their onboarding experience for new players, noting that they learned through their release that “Marathon for new players can be an overwhelming experience.” They additionally plan to deepen the overall experience for their diehard player base.
The Blog post laid out a general road map for the game, outlining the plan until the end of 2026. It stated:
To look more directly at our plans and goals for the next year:
- Season 2 is on the horizon and we’ll be sowing the seeds for a lot of our future plans via new content such as Sentinel and Night Marsh, systems, and experiments around new play modes that may become permanent in the future.
- Season 3 we’re planning to introduce a lot (and I mean a lot) of revisions to our early experience, including big updates to Perimeter, alongside a new Runner shell, and additional (no spoilers) content.
- Season 4 we’re focusing on building more depth into the existing extraction loop.
- Season 5 we’re looking at bringing the whole ecosystem of (PV(P)VE) play together and evolving our weird sci-fi world in new ways.
In a recent earnings report, Sony made the claim that due to the underperformance of Marathon, the company has suffered a $765 million impairment loss following its acquisition of Bungie. These announced changes seem to directly address criticism lodged against the game since launch, so hopefully, there are players to be found with these improvements.
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