Marathon is ‘too far along’ to pivot to ‘free-to-play’, Bungie insider claims

Recently it came to light that Bungie was ‘considering' a $40 price tag for its upcoming multiplayer shooter, Marathon. The report still left room for the possibility of the game transitioning to a free-to-play model, but as it turns out, Bungie may have ruled out that idea already. 

Paul Tassi, a reporter that has dedicated a good chunk of his career to covering the Destiny franchise, has heard from a Bungie source that Bungie made the decision to make Marathon a buy-to-play game last year, in part due to how ‘The Finals' performed in the months following launch, despite releasing as a free-to-play game. Bungie bosses hope that the studio's level of ‘prestige' and previous decades as a top multiplayer game studio will convince the masses to buy in to Marathon from the get-go.

Of course, this decision has now been called into question due to Sony's high-profile miss with Concord, another $40 multiplayer shooter that failed to gain any kind of meaningful traction. However, Bungie is apparently in too deep with this current iteration of Marathon to switch back to a F2P model now. The game was originally due to launch this year, but was delayed to 2025 and is now expected to have its major reveal in the Spring next year, ahead of a Summer/Autumn launch.

Despite claiming that the game is too far along in its current form to go free-to-play, it is also claimed that Bungie already has plans for a Marathon cosmetic skin shop, as well as premium battle passes, the two main methods of monetisation that most free-to-play games rely on. With that in mind, I don't think the argument that it is ‘too late' to transition to a F2P model makes much sense. In my opinion, if this is all true, the refusal to launch as a F2P experience largely comes from the fact that Bungie bosses need to improve their revenue stream to avoid being fired and replaced by executives of Sony's choosing, and as a result, we have a game with all the markers of a F2P experience, being dressed up and sold to you as a ‘premium' experience.

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KitGuru Says: If this is true, then in my mind, it shows that Bungie's leaders are extremely out of touch. If they think Destiny fans are going to flock to their new ‘premium' PvP game, after years of ignoring the PvP element in Destiny, then I have a bridge to sell them.  

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