A new report has claimed Marathon’s budget is over $200 million, and while player numbers have fallen significantly since launch, Bungie’s extraction shooter is allegedly not facing an imminent shutdown.
Forbes reported that the Marathon budget is likely more than $250 million. It’s worth noting that this spend allegedly does not include ongoing costs for the live service game, nor the development of post-launch content.
Last month, one analyst said “Marathon hasn’t exactly made the splash Sony and Bungie wanted,” estimating sales at around 1.2 million copies. That, Alinea Analytics said, amounted to gross revenues of around $55 million across PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S.
On Steam, Marathon hit a peak concurrent player count of 88,337 at launch. But that number has fallen steadily over the past month, with the latest 24-hour peak hitting 25,392 players. Of course, Marathon is also out on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, but neither Sony nor Microsoft make player numbers public. Still, PC is clearly the dominant platform for Marathon with an estimated 70% of the sales, so those Steam concurrents give us a decent idea of how it’s tracking.
Bungie is under pressure to deliver for Sony after recent and very public financial failings. In November, Sony said Bungie had failed to meet its sales and user engagement expectations, recording a 31.5 billion yen (approx. $204.2 million) impairment charge as a result of Destiny 2’s underperformance. That was significant enough to drag down profits at Sony’s Game & Network Services Segment, which includes Sony Interactive Entertainment.
According to Forbes, Bungie developers are working hard on new content, and there is no danger of an imminent shutdown. But after what happened to Sony’s own Concord and, more recently, Highguard, everything surrounding Marathon feels a little on edge.
We’ll probably have to wait for Sony’s next set of financial results to find out if it’s happy with Marathon’s commercial performance. As for Bungie itself, it may have made a game so hardcore that it is impossible for it to hit the kind of mainstream sales fellow extraction shooter Arc Raiders enjoyed last year — at least without significant changes or additions. Marathon is a difficult game; if you die, you lose all your gear. And not just what you looted while out on the battlefield, but what you brought in. And given how easy it is to die in Marathon, it can feel like a brutally punishing video game. Are people bouncing off Marathon because of this? Were some put off by its steep learning curve?
Bungie has repeatedly said that while Marathon has a steep learning curve, over time, recovering from a bad loss gets easier. But then Marathon’s recently launched raid-like experience, Cryo Archive, doubled down on the ultra hardcore experience, with several requirements you need to meet in order to access it.
Former professional Counter-Strike player, Shroud, has said that while Cryo Archive offers an incredible experience, it’s too difficult for casual players. Speaking in a recent stream, the influential gamer said: “Cryo Archive is insane. It’s the most elaborate extraction shooter map I’ve ever seen in a game ever. The loop that they made is truly something special. The problem is, is it too elaborate? Is it too complex? Is it too much of a grind? Is your 9-5 grandma and grandpa going to be able to do it? I don’t know.”
Where does Bungie go from here? Marathon is far from a Concord-style live service disaster, but it’s clear Bungie needs to do something to increase sales. Simply making Marathon easier may not be enough to do the trick, and would run the risk of alienating those who currently love it the way it is. Making it free-to-play this soon after launch would just anger those who paid full price. Could a single-player or PvE campaign spark renewed interest? Could a traditional PvP mode help?
And should we be surprised by word of Marathon costing north of $250 million to produce? Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier recently talked about AAA games developed in the U.S. and Canada, where developer salaries are typically higher than in other parts of the world, costing $300 million or more to produce.
Indeed, Concord’s initial development deal was around $200 million, according to a report by Kotaku. In 2023, new documents submitted as part of the Xbox Federal Trade Commission case accidentally revealed The Last of Us: Part II and Horizon Forbidden West each cost more than $200 million to develop.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
