Bungie’s Marathon Likely Won’t Be Free-to-Play Based on Gameplay Reveal Announcement Message
[summaraize]
While Bungie has yet to announce whether Marathon is a paid title or one that’s going free-to-play, their reveal teaser already hints that it won’t be the latter. However, they also warn that things are subject to change, seeing that it’s still in development.
More details about the game are set to be revealed next week, which includes our first look at gameplay.
Bungie’s Newest Shooter, Marathon, Hints at Being a Paid Title
Per Bungie’s press release about the game: “Marathon is a team-based extraction shooter and the first completely new project from Bungie, the creators of Halo and Destiny, in more than a decade. Set on the mysterious planet of Tau Ceti IV, Marathon will see players inhabit the bodies of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries who have been designed to survive the planet’s harsh environments. While exploring the lost colony that once inhabited the surface, players will search for valuable loot including new weapons and gear.”
For those hoping that Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon, would be free-to-play, we may have some bad news for you, as it seems that the title may, in fact, be a paid one. Although the studio hasn’t revealed anything official, their teaser video indicates that the title will be paid. How so? Well, this is hinted at by the wording at the start of the video, which says, “Internet connection and online multiplayer subscription may be required.”
Unless things have changed with Marathon, and it offers some sort of solo-play against bots and such for its extraction mode, sort of like how Destiny 2 is free-to-play if you play solo, then the subscription requirement means it’s likely a paid title. Both PlayStation and Xbox no longer need a subscription to play free-to-play games, and PC, of course, is a platform that never required it from storefronts such as Steam and Epic Games Store. So the wording seems to suggest that either, or both, PlayStation and Xbox may be mandating the subscription, something only paid titles have been doing.
In today’s day and age, releasing an online-focused multiplayer built as a GAAS (Game as a service) can be a rather risky move, especially if it comes with a price tag. Point and case, PlayStation’s recent Concord, which launched as a $40 package, and despite being less than a full priced game ($70), failed to reach expectations, prompting the game to shut down less than two weeks after its release. It also caused the studio to shut down a month later, sending a shocking message across the industry.
Still, even if the game was free-to-play, there’s always that looming risk, one that we saw happen to Mountaintop Studio with Spectre Divide, which saw the server and studio also closing down. Point being, paid, or free-to-play, the only way Marathon will actually succeed is if it captures its target audience
Stay connected to MP1st and the latest news by following us on Bluesky, X, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Google News.
Its not likely to be good looking either since the day of the game’s inception they have to design it first for the worst console out there, the utter utter utter garbage series s that is delaying most of Xbox’s 1st party 2020 announced games still to this day too.
This game is trash since the day it was announced and the 4 billion Sony wasted on Bungie is one of the worst acquisitions that games industry has ever seen.