'We Came Up Short, Please Don’t Punish Others for Our…

Summary

Marathon, a reboot of Bungie's 1994 series, offers cross-platform play in a PvP environment with loot extraction.
A former Concord artist commends Bungie for taking a risk with Marathon, urging players not to judge the game prematurely.
Gamers have been calling Marathon "Concord 2.0."

An artist who formally worked on the failed Concord game is speaking out against naysayers who have already pronounced Bungie’s new extraction shooter Marathon dead. Serving as a reboot of Bungie’s original 1994 Marathon series, the new multiplayer is a step outside the developer’s comfort zone, already having the Halo and Destiny franchises under its belt.

Marathon will focus on player-versus-player gameplay alongside loot extraction mechanics, and luckily, FPS fans will be able to take advantage of the game’s full cross-platform play. Interested players can now sign up for Marathon’s closed Alpha playtest, allowing gamers to get a hands-on experience before the game’s launch, and the playtest will take place from April 23 - May 4, 2025.

marathon director clarifies the game isn’t meant to replace destiny 2

Marathon Dev Clarifies It's Not Trying to Replace Destiny 2

The Marathon developer clarifies that the new entry in the classic sci-fi first-person shooter franchise isn’t meant to replace Destiny 2.

Posts

By José V. Rossi

Bungie revealed Marathon's gameplay and release date to be September 23, 2025, during an anticipated trailer, but gamers were quick to compare the game to Concord’s failure. Defending Marathon, a former Concord artist, called MrSpug on Reddit, shared a post on the Marathon subreddit commending Bungie for “taking a chance.” The artist noted how “gut-wrenching” it was to see Concord fail, but they applauded Bungie’s “courage” and encouraged gamers not to “punish others for our mistake.” Additionally, MrSpug noted they didn’t want to be “that dev,” but thought people calling Marathon a failure before the game’s release was “wild.”

Former Concord Artist Defends Marathon's Reveal and Bungie's "Courage"

Since the FPS genre is at an all-time high in 2025, Bungie revealed how Marathon plans to compete against other extraction shooters, such as offering greater accessibility and providing a unique gameplay experience to set it apart from other shooters like Escape from Tarkov. Thankfully, most Redditors had a positive reaction to Spug’s post, noting that people just love to be mad and spread hate these days. Another user was baffled by “gamer discourse,” unable to get their head around gamers thinking developers are a part of “some grand conspiracy to make an intentionally unfun experience.”

Several gamers were also quick to compare Marathon to the failed Concord from PlayStation and Firewalk Studios, calling the new shooter “Concord 2.0.” After a successful marketing campaign on the heels of the game’s announcement at 2023’s PlayStation Showcase, Concord’s servers were shut down only two weeks after the official launch. Despite its comparisons to Marvel’s popular Guardians of the Galaxy, Concord’s sales were very poor, and the devs noted certain aspects of the game did not roll out as intended.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image