Bungie to Reveal Marathon Gameplay in Upcoming Livestream

Bungie is gearing up to unveil more details about its highly anticipated PvP extraction shooter, Marathon, with an exciting gameplay livestream scheduled for this Saturday, April 12 (or Sunday, April 13, depending on your global location).

Last week, the Destiny developer sparked intrigue with a cryptic tweet featuring a 15-second video that sent fans into a frenzy, delving into an "extensive alternative reality game." Enthusiasts quickly noticed that hidden within the ASCII art was "a snippet of footage from the initial trailer," specifically highlighting "the runner sprinting down a hall from the trailer." Another message decoded from the video ominously read: "WHEN WILL HE RETURN ERROR ERROR ERROR HAS OCCURRED THE ENEMY RETURNED SYSTEM WARNING: PROTOCOL BREACH EVACUATE THE BASE IMMEDIATELY ALL UNITS REPORT TO STATION INITIATE EMERGENCY PROTOCOL 7 DATA LOSS IMMINENT GOOD LUCK, COMMANDER."

Bungie acknowledged the community's efforts, stating, "Thousands of community members across the world worked together to unlock the gameplay reveal date for Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter Marathon." The livestream is set to take place at 10 am PDT (San Francisco) / 1 pm EDT (New York) / 6 pm BST (London) / 7 pm CEST (Berlin/Paris) / 9 pm GST (Dubai) or Sunday, April 13 at 2 am JST (Tokyo) / 3 am AEST (Sydney) / 5 pm NZST (Auckland).

Marathon was revealed in May 2023 as a reboot of the classic Bungie franchise, embracing themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." Set on the enigmatic planet of Tau Ceti IV, the game will feature players taking on the roles of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries engineered to withstand the planet’s harsh conditions. Players will explore the remnants of a lost colony in search of valuable loot, including new weapons and gear. Since the initial announcement, updates have been sparse, though a development video in October shed light on Marathon's mechanics, emphasizing the game's early development stage.

Amidst this, Sony has been reevaluating its focus on live-service games following the abrupt cancellation of Concord. In November 2023, Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced the company was committed to launching just six of the 12 live service games it was working on by March 2026, indicating the cancellation of projects like The Last of Us multiplayer game.

Bungie itself has faced its share of challenges. In July 2024, the company laid off 220 staff members—17% of its workforce—less than a year after 100 other layoffs at Bungie. Additionally, former Marathon director Chris Barrett was allegedly fired after an internal misconduct investigation at Bungie, subsequently suing Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bungie for over $200 million.

To catch the Marathon gameplay reveal live, tune into the official Marathon Twitch channel on April 12.