Bungie’s Marathon director reveals minimal details after more than a year

Even though Bungie previously stated that they would be “heads down” on Marathon for the foreseeable future, they… really meant it. In fact, nothing has been publicly released about the game since a trailer and video document was released in May 2023, a year and a half ago, and a video that was later deleted. Today that has changed. View.

We have now got a new video from Marathon game director Joe Ziegler, former head of Valorant. The reason the old documentation was removed because it featured old game director Chris Barrett, who it recently emerged was quietly fired after allegations of inappropriate behavior with women at the company. He left shortly after Widok and Ziegler took over, which was only acknowledged nine months after it happened. Ziegler said more will be revealed soon, and they’re just getting a little tight for the new year here, albeit without many answers.

In the video above, Ziegler confirms for the first time several previously reported details about the game’s structure. Highlights that didn’t include actual gameplay footage included:

• You fight enemy AI mobs and other players in an extraction format. The introductory part basically just describes what an extraction shooter is.
• Loot is a weapon, equipment that changes your stats, customizes abilities. There are useful tools like mines and grenades. There are consumables that you can use to heal yourself (wow!).
• You control ‘runners’, each with their own set of abilities, and you can customize them with different types of gear as you go on runs. This relates to the idea of ​​a “hero”.
• They are trying to modernize the 30-year-old history of the Marathon. There are no details on exactly what that means.
• So far, they’ve done a lot of playtesting that has shaped and changed the game. The environment is now more complete than the character models, the enemy models are in their infancy. Again, it was slated for a 2025 release, though he didn’t repeat that, and no dates were given for future public or private alpha or beta tests.
• Showed a few Runners, only illustrations, not gameplay. One named Thief. Another, Stealth. It seems that these are not final names yet. There is no information about the details of the kit.
• You can now add the game to your wishlist.

Look, I’m sorry, but…it wasn’t good. It basically explains the basics of what an extraction shooter is, an extremely brief and non-detailed explanation of the character concept, and just two pieces of concept art for a game that’s likely to be released next year. Overall, I’d call it pretty disappointing, although my sources say a deeper dive will happen next spring. Again, 2025 looks…doubtful at this point. As for the quality of the game itself, I don’t know what we should get out of something like this.

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