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 April 13, depending on your global location). The excitement began last week when the Destiny developer posted a cryptic tweet featuring a peculiar 15-second video, sparking a frenzy among fans who eagerly delved into an "extensive alternative reality game."

Astute players discovered an ASCII art containing "a snippet of footage from the initial trailer," specifically showcasing "the runner sprinting down a hall from the trailer." Another intriguing message added to the mystery: "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 praised the global community's collaborative effort in a statement, saying, "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 kick off at 10 am PDT (San Francisco) / 1 pm EDT (New York) / 6 pm BST (London) / 7 pm CEST (Berlin/Paris) / 9 pm GST (Dubai) on Saturday, or Sunday, April 13 at 2 am JST (Tokyo) / 3 am AEST (Sydney) / 5 pm NZST (Auckland).

Marathon was first revealed in May 2023 as a reboot of the classic Bungie franchise, focusing on themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." The game is set on the enigmatic planet of Tau Ceti IV, where players will take on the roles of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries crafted to endure the planet's unforgiving conditions. As players explore the remnants of a lost colony, they'll hunt for valuable loot, including new weapons and gear.

Since the initial reveal, information has been scarce, although a development update video in October shed light on Marathon's mechanics. Bungie emphasized that the game was still in the early stages of development. Amidst this, Sony, Bungie's parent company, has been reevaluating its focus on live-service games. Following the abrupt cancellation of the live-service shooter Concord, Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced in November 2023 that the company was committed to launching just six of the 12 live service games it had planned by March 2026, signaling the cancellation of the 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—following 100 other layoffs at Bungie less than a year prior. Additionally, former Marathon director Chris Barrett was allegedly fired after an internal misconduct investigation, leading to Barrett 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.