Bungie is gearing up to unveil more of its eagerly anticipated PvP extraction shooter, Marathon, through an exciting gameplay livestream scheduled for this Saturday, April 12 (or April 13, depending on your global location). The Destiny developer recently sparked curiosity with a cryptic tweet featuring a 15-second video, prompting fans to dive into an "extensive alternative reality game" to uncover hidden details.
Sleuths within the community discovered an ASCII art snippet from the initial trailer, revealing "a runner sprinting down a hall." Another intriguing message surfaced: "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." This collaborative effort led to the announcement of the gameplay reveal date.
Bungie confirmed that "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 air 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, April 12, or Sunday, April 13 at 2 am JST (Tokyo) / 3 am AEST (Sydney) / 5 pm NZST (Auckland).
Marathon was first unveiled in May 2023 as a reboot of the classic Bungie franchise, embracing themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." The game is set on the enigmatic planet of Tau Ceti IV, where players will assume the roles of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries engineered to withstand the planet’s harsh conditions. As they explore a lost colony, players will hunt for valuable loot, including new weapons and gear. Since its initial reveal, updates have been sparse, with a development video in October shedding light on the game's mechanics, although Bungie emphasized the game's early development stage.
Recent shifts in Sony's strategy have impacted Bungie's projects. Following the abrupt cancellation of the live-service shooter Concord, Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced in November 2023 that the company would focus on launching only six of the 12 live service games initially planned by March 2026. This shift led to the cancellation of The Last of Us multiplayer game.
Bungie has faced its own challenges, including significant layoffs. In July 2024, the company laid off 220 staff members—17% of its workforce—less than a year after another round of 100 layoffs. Additionally, former Marathon director Chris Barrett was allegedly fired following an internal misconduct investigation, prompting him to sue 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.
