Bungie delays Marathon indefinitely

Marathon is not coming in September in spite of everything. Bungie mentioned on Tuesday that it is delaying the shooter indefinitely. “We’re utilizing this time to empower the staff to create the extreme, high-stakes expertise {that a} title like Marathon is constructed round,” the corporate wrote.

Bungie desires to include participant suggestions from the sport’s closed alpha playtest. (It ran from April 23 to Could 4.) The corporate will proceed closed testing over the subsequent few months.

The developer desires to drill down on what makes the sport “uniquely compelling.” Bungie views this as a mix of survival, thriller, raid-like endgame challenges and fight. Including more difficult AI encounters can also be a precedence. Ditto for enhanced visible constancy and a darker tone that is extra like the ’90s originals.

Final month, the sport made headlines for the flawed causes. Bungie admitted that Marathon‘s alpha version used stolen artwork. The developer mentioned a former artist on its staff pinched the property with out its information. That incident wasn’t talked about in immediately’s assertion. Nonetheless, it is simple to think about that might have performed a component within the determination.

Delays are by no means enjoyable for these wanting to play. Nonetheless, early testers had loads of criticism. “Via each remark and real-time dialog on social media and Discord, your voice has been robust and clear,” Bungie wrote. “We have taken this to coronary heart, and we all know we want extra time to craft Marathon into the sport that actually displays your ardour.”

So, it sounds just like the delay might be a sensible determination in the long term. Bungie says it should present its subsequent replace, together with a brand new launch date, this fall.