It looks like Marathon won’t be left behind anytime soon, as Bungie has confirmed it has plans to evolve its story over at least “the next few years.”
Creative director Julia Nardin teased the next steps for the former Halo developer’s shiny new extraction shooter during an interview with GamesRadar. Although the multiplayer reboot is just shy of two months old, she said the team is confident enough to have at least a loose idea of what direction to take its narrative in the coming years.
“We know where we want to take the story over the next few years,” Nardin said, “but I don’t want to say it’s completely ‘locked in’ because it’s important to us that our players be able to help shape it.”
Bungie plopped players into the world of Tau Ceti IV when Marathon for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S March 5. Its intention to build it alongside its community for the months and, ideally, years ahead is a long-term strategy it experimented with during the development of its Destiny titles, though not everyone was in love with the idea of being dropped late into stories that were years in the making.
Updates have already started to carve out the future, but Nardin said those who have yet to go on their first run have nothing to fear. This time around, she said it’s important for Bungie that players can “jump into Marathon at any time.”
“They’ll always be able to uncover the mysteries of Tau Ceti’s past while experiencing its present,” Nardin added. “We want every season to be a new entry point, and for new players to be able to understand what’s going on regardless of how long we’ve all been running.”
Recent Marathon updates have seen Bungie continuing to listen to fan feedback by increasing the amount of armor and healing consumables Runners can carry and making it easier to participate in the Cryo Archive. With Season 2 expected to launch sometime in June, seems a flow of updates will continue to roll out after reports shared that the project allegedly had around a $200 million budget and is not in immediate threat of being shut down.
We gave Marathon a 9/10 review upon its launch in March. At the time, we called it “a ruthless and unforgiving extraction shooter that’s worth every ounce of hell it puts you through.”
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).
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