Bungie to Unveil Marathon Gameplay in Upcoming Livestream

Bungie is gearing up to unveil more about its eagerly anticipated PvP extraction shooter, Marathon, through an exciting gameplay livestream scheduled for this Saturday, April 12 (or April 13, depending on your time zone).

Just last week, the developers behind Destiny piqued fans' curiosity with a cryptic tweet featuring a 15-second video, sparking an "extensive alternative reality game" that had fans sleuthing for clues. Within the ASCII art of the video, players discovered "a snippet of footage from the initial trailer," specifically a scene of "the runner sprinting down a hall from the trailer." Another cryptic message read: "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."

Bungie credits "thousands of community members across the world" for their collaborative efforts in unlocking the date for the gameplay reveal. The livestream is set for 10 am PDT (San Francisco) / 1 pm EDT (New York) / 6 pm BST (London) / 7 pm CEST (Berlin/Paris) / 9 pm GST (Dubai) 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 iconic Bungie franchise, emphasizing themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." The game is set on the mysterious planet of Tau Ceti IV, where players take on the role of Runners—cybernetic mercenaries engineered to withstand the planet's harsh conditions. The objective is to explore the remnants of a lost colony, seeking valuable loot such as new weapons and gear.

Since the initial announcement, updates have been sparse. A development video in October provided insights into Marathon's mechanics, but the studio emphasized the game's early development stage.

Amidst these developments, Sony has been reevaluating its approach to live-service games following the abrupt cancellation of Concord. In November 2023, Sony president Hiroki Totoki announced that the company would focus on launching only six out of the 12 planned live-service games by March 2026, indicating the cancellation of the The Last of Us multiplayer game.

Bungie has also faced its share of challenges. In July 2024, the company laid off 220 staff members—17% of its workforce—less than a year after cutting 100 other positions. Shortly after, it was revealed that former Marathon director Chris Barrett was allegedly fired following an internal misconduct investigation, leading Barrett to sue Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bungie for over $200 million.

To catch the Marathon reveal live, tune into the official Marathon Twitch channel on April 12.