Bungie has revealed that they are working on the next instalment of the Marathon series. The game was announced during Wednesday night’s PlayStation showcase and is the developer’s first “completely new project” in over a decade.
For those who may be unfamiliar, Marathon is a sci-fi shooter series that was developed by Bungie in the 1990s, drawing similarities to games like Doom (1993). The last game in the series, Marathon Trinity, was released in 1996, some five years prior to the launch of Halo: Combat Evolved.
“A PvP-focused extraction shooter set on the mysterious planet of Tau Ceti IV, Marathon will see players inhabit the bodies of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries who have been designed to survive the planet’s harsh environments, exploring the lost colony that once inhabited Tau Ceti’s surface.” A Bungie press release read.
“Players will engage solo or in crews of three, searching for mysterious alien artifacts, as well as for valuable loot and new weapons and gear that they can add to their collection.”
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, game director Christopher Barrett spoke about creating something new while also respecting the trilogy of games that came before.
“Finding the right balance is one of the most fun parts of development! We have a tremendous amount of respect for the original Marathon games and, from the very start, we’ve wanted to honor that, especially the mythology, story, and themes of the world.
“At the same time, our vision for this game is something new. It’s not a direct sequel to the originals, but something that certainly belongs in the same universe and that feels like a Bungie game,” Barrett explained.
“Finding those opportunities to nod to the universe’s lore, while also getting to build something different and new has been one of the best parts of developing this game so far.”
As for when we can expect to see more, general manager Scott Taylor explained that the team still has more work to do before they’re ready, and also hopes that the announcement will aid recruitment and grow the team.
“There’s still a lot of work to do before launch or even before we’re ready to talk about the game in more detail,” Taylor said. “The team is hard at work, and we’ve got a great base to start from but there is still so much more to do, including continuing to grow our team.
“That’s one of the most challenging parts of game development: hiring when everything is still under wraps.”
In the first Marathon ViDoc, Taylor gave a vague idea as to where the game’s development cycle is at:
“After this announcement, we are going to go dark for a little while – for an extended period – while we focus on developing and playtesting the game,” Taylor said.
“Next time you hear from us, we’re going to be much closer to release and we will be ready to reveal gameplay.”
Neither a release date nor gameplay has been revealed, but the game was confirmed to be multiplatform, featuring cross-play and cross-save on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.