Today Bungie makes history with the announcement of its first completely new project in more than a decade: Marathon. A sci-fi PvP extraction shooter, Marathon will find players engaging one another as cybernetic mercenaries known as Runners, exploring a lost colony on the planet of Tau Ceti IV in search of riches, fame, and infamy. Marathon is currently in development for PlayStation 5 and PC with full cross-play and cross-save.
To mark the announcement, we spoke with Marathon General Manager Scott Taylor and Game Director Christopher Barrett to find out more about where we are in the race towards Marathon.
Today you announced Marathon – the first entirely new project announcement from Bungie in more than a decade. How hard has it been keeping this under wraps for so long?
Scott Taylor: So hard! It’s so wild to be talking about this in front of the world. As a team, we’ve been completely immersed in developing this world behind closed doors at Bungie. Even though there’s still a long way to go before release, it’s fantastic to be able to open up (even just a little) and share what we’ve all been working on.
The name “Marathon” obviously conjures up visions of the original game from 1994 but this is something new.
Christopher Barrett: Finding the right balance is one of the most fun parts of development! We have a tremendous amount of respect for the original Marathon games and, from the very start, we’ve wanted to honor that, especially the mythology, story, and themes of the world. At the same time, our vision for this game is something new. It’s not a direct sequel to the originals, but something that certainly belongs in the same universe and that feels like a Bungie game. Finding those opportunities to nod to the universe’s lore, while also getting to build something different and new has been one of the best parts of developing this game so far.
It’s our aim to create something incredible both for players who are completely new to the Marathon world and for those that have been waiting years for more stories in the Marathon universe. You don’t need to know anything about Marathon to understand or play this game, but if you do, we’re making the experience with references and deep cuts you’ll recognize.
You mentioned that Marathon will feel like a Bungie game. What does that mean for you?
CB: