Patrick Söderlund, CEO of Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios, is praising Bungie after the Marathon team managed to effectively address playtest feedback “in a very short period of time.”
The studio executive further extinguished the extraction shooter beef during an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. In between questions about the development of Arc Raiders, he gave his thoughts on Marathon, Bungie’s competing experience that launched March 5.
Although fans have spent months arguing about whether the Marathon revival could stand toe-to-toe with Arc Raiders, Söderlund took the opportunity to celebrate the former Halo developer’s accomplishments thus far. He specifically calls attention to how quickly the experience changed after early playtests yielded what Sony described as “varied” feedback from fans.
“I know their technical test last year was heavily criticized,” Söderlund said. “Whether that was accurate or fair, I can’t tell you. But what I can tell you is that, even though the feedback may be a little mixed, it looks like the team has done a really good job of turning what was a big problem around in a very short period of time. That’s unusual.”
“[…] It looks like the team has done a really good job of turning what was a big problem around in a very short period of time. That’s unusual.”“
He continued, wishing Bungie the best now that the team has applied that feedback to the launch build: “So credit to that team and to the work that they have done with the game. I hope that they do well.”
Bungie recently faced criticism from fans after Marathon players noticed that “Arc Raiders” had been censored in its in-game chat. It was a confusing moment that was quickly rectified when it was uncensored as official social media accounts for both extraction shooter experiences shared a wholesome moment online. It’s hard to say where Marathon will go from here, as post-launch support is only just beginning, but Söderlund’s comments at least show there’s only friendly competition to be found from Embark.
“I feel like [Marathon] is more PvP [player vs. player] prone,” he added when comparing the differences between Marathon and Arc Raiders. “PvE [player vs. environment] doesn’t feel like the focus of that game. But there are a lot of things in there that I actually like that they’ve done well. I like that what I do in the game is linked to my progression. There are many things in there that I actually think they’ve done a good job with.”
While Marathon is only just getting started, players have already spent months with Arc Raiders since its launch in October 2025. For more, you can read about why we think some Maraton quests are only getting in the way of the fun. You can also check out our recent interview with Söderlund, where we learned more about how Embark plans to continue building on its PvPvE shooter.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
