Bungie has scrapped its original plans for a new Marathon trailer and pre-orders, with a new report claiming the open beta could shift to a “roadmap of public playtests” instead.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Bungie and its upcoming hero-based extraction shooter, Marathon. After the big gameplay reveal and the Closed Alpha launch, community reactions have been all over the place, with a lot of feedback leaning towards the negative.
Things only got messier when artist ANTIREAL accused Bungie of plagiarizing her 2017 artwork used in the Alpha build. Bungie responded, admitting to the mistake and promising to fix things, but the whole controversy has weighed heavily on how fans now see the game.
Marathon’s Summer Marketing Plans Axed
According to a new report from Forbes’ Paul Tassi, Bungie has scrapped its original marketing plans for Marathon. The studio was set to release a new trailer and open up pre-orders in June, but those plans were called off earlier this month. The report suggests that Bungie began reworking its entire marketing even before the art plagiarism controversy started making headlines.
“The whole campaign needs to be reworked now,” the report reads.
The Marathon open beta, which was supposed to go live in August, is also being reconsidered. Bungie may move away from a single beta event and instead offer a “roadmap of public playtests,” with several smaller opportunities for players to try the game ahead of launch. As of now, nothing is finalized.
The report highlights just how shaky things feel internally at Bungie right now. Sources described morale as being in “free-fall” and said, “the vibes have never been worse.” Between the mixed feedback, the artwork controversy, and the ongoing asset audit, the planned September release date is looking more and more uncertain. There’s no official delay just yet, but it’s definitely a possibility.
Speaking of pre-orders, a recent Destiny 2 datamine revealed what looks like Marathon-themed cosmetics being added to Destiny 2, possibly as a pre-order bonus. On top of that, we also have early details about the pre-order bundles planned for Marathon itself. Last year, The Game Post reported that Marathon is not a free-to-play title and is targeting a $40 launch price, which still appears to be the case.
How do you feel about these big changes to Marathon’s marketing and playtest plans? Do you think Bungie should move away from the reported $40 launch price for a free-to-play model? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
