A year after its grand reveal, Bungie’s upcoming extraction-shooter, Marathon, remains shrouded in mystery, except for bits and pieces of info from everywhere except official sources.
Earlier this year, IGN reported that Marathon was “moving away from custom player characters in favor of a selectable cast of heroes,” which led to immense backlash from fans.
Now, another intriguing report has surfaced, which suggests that the Marathon cost is well above being a free-to-play title as many had anticipated. Instead, it could be a pay-to-play title, similar to Firewalk studio’s Concord, which shut down abruptly two weeks after its underwhelming launch.
Marathon cost could be $40 at launch
As reported by thegamepost, sources familiar with the project claim Bungie could target a $40 launch price for Marathon.
Thegamepost believes that Marathon’s pricing strategy could have changed after the launch of Concord, but adds that the $40 pricing was being discussed at some point.
The news of Marathon possibly being a premium title shouldn’t come as a surprise to Bungie fans, as the studio’s past titles have always followed this route. New Destiny 2 expansions cost $40, with their annual passes worth $100.
Even Destiny 2’s seasonal content, such as the ongoing Episodes, isn’t free. Players have to cough up 1200 Silver ($12) to access the Episode’s story, activity, and premium pass.
While Destiny fans are used to paying for game content, Marathon is a PvP game that could attract players outside of Destiny fandom, and the $40 price tag may not fair well with everyone, especially if Concord’s recent shutdown is any indication.
The road to Marathon’s launch has been turbulent, what with the mass layoffs at the studio, leadership issues, and the sudden departure of former game director Christopher Barrett, who, as reported by Bloomberg, was accused of inappropriate behavior with female employees.
Now, with Marathon’s alleged $40 launch pricing, things could escalate further. Either way, fans will have to wait for an official update, which hopefully shouldn’t be too far away.
Marathon is scheduled to launch in 2025 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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