Marathon vs. Apex Legends: Bungies’ New Game is an Extraction Shooter, Alpha Shortly Explained
Image: Sony
Bungies’ Next Big Game will be the Extraction Shooter Marathon this fall. With the sci-fi title, the studio ties itself to both its own past and its own forces, targeting Apex Legends. However, the business model is different.
Players find themselves in the marathon on the lost colony of Tau Ceti IV, whose treasures are being plundered by factions and thus mercenaries in artificial bodies. Thanks to their new bodies, these “runners” have additional abilities: depending on the character class, they can turn invisible, support other players, or deal more damage. This is how Marathon should stand out.
“Race” isn’t just a typical genre-specific challenge of holding off against security systems and other players to collect skills and equipment, i.e., to become stronger. At the same time, players are also expected to uncover the secret of the Lost Colony. Here, Bungie is tying in the same premise as Destiny 2. Here too, the studio is telling a story, partly directly, partly indirectly. Graphically, Marathon creates its own style, which is a bit bolder. This creates cyberpunk vibes appropriate for the setting and makes it easier to navigate.
Inspired by Bungie classics
The setting is taken from Bungie Classics: Tau Ceti IV was introduced with three first-person shooters in the 1990s, the Marathon trilogy is still based on the classic Destiny. The Marathon ship, the setting of the first shooter, is also available as a setting. Players move around the region in teams of three, but can also play completely alone and prevail against 17 other mercenaries and the colony guards.
To stand out in the very crowded genre of live-service shooters, Sony is relying on a second pillar that the publisher emphasizes: players can expect gunplay, experimentation with builds, and tactical play. Furthermore, it is directly stated that marks can be fixed, shared, and objectives can be re-rolled and re-rolled—which seems to be Sony’s wish to emphasize, after the Concord fiasco, that no rudimentary features, but a complete and rounded game, is being released. It starts in April and September.
Marathon, which resembles a mix of Apex Legends and Destiny, will initially launch with three maps. The game is monetized via a battle pass and an in-game store for cosmetic extras and as a “premium game.” Bungie has now denied that players will have to pay a premium price. The studio made the Marathon launch expensive, but in principle, a purchase price could be expected at the level of other Sony online service games—Hellivers 2, for example, cost 40 euros at the start.
The finished game is expected to be released on September 23, 2025. Whether the game will be released for PC at the same time or only for the PlayStation 5 remains unclear. Given the current corporate strategy, however, it’s to be expected that it could also start on PC. For example, the publisher would maximize the potential target audience, but would not reduce the console’s advertising value through a late announcement. A closed alpha test will also begin on April 23. Interested parties can apply for the game on Discord—at least for those with a North American location. Testing options are also announced on the German marathon’s homepage, which essentially confirms other testing options—which are still advertising.
Topics: Action Games Bungie Ego-shooter Gaming Sony Source: Sony
A lifelong video game enthusiast, Julien reviews the latest releases and explores the technologies transforming the gaming world.
