Bungie Delays 'Marathon' Days After PlayStation Head Herman Hulst Promised Game Would Not Fail
Bungie announced it has delayed its upcoming first-person shooter Marathon just days after Head of PlayStation Studios Herman Hulst promised the game would not fail.
During what appeared to be a scripted Fireside Chat video that was part of Sony’s Game & Network Service Segment presentation Hulst was asked, “What have you learned of your foray into live-game services including Concord and how does this relate to Marathon during the recent Alpha test?”
As part of his answer regarding Marathon, he stated, “For Marathon, it’s our goal to release a very bold, very innovative and deeply engaging title. It’s going to be the first new Bungie title in over a decade. So we’re really excited for that release. We’re monitoring. We’re going through the test cycles. We’re monitoring the closed Alpha cycle that the team has just gone through. We’re taking all the lessons learned and we’re using the capabilities that we’ve built and analytics and user testing to understand how audiences are engaging with the title.”
“Some of that feedback, frankly, has been varied, but it’s super useful. That’s why you do these testings. The constant testing and the constant revalidation of assumptions that we just talked about, to me, is just so valuable to iterate and constantly improve the title. So when launch comes we’re going to give the title the optimal chance of success. And this cycle of test, of iterate, of test again that is such a key component of the live service success both leading up to launch, but also throughout the life of the game. And we’re committed to continuing to leverage our learnings, to maximize engagement, and player satisfaction throughout the lifecycle of the title,” he concluded.
Just days after this Fireside chat, Bungie shared in a blog post on its website that they have delayed the game from its originally scheduled September 23rd release date and do not plan on announcing a new release date until some time this Fall.
As for why they decided to delay the game, the blog post stated, “The Alpha test created an opportunity for us to calibrate and focus the game on what will make it uniquely compelling—survival under pressure, mystery and lore around every corner, raid-like endgame challenges, and Bungie’s genre-defining FPS combat. We’re using this time to empower the team to create the intense, high-stakes experience that a title like Marathon is built around. This means deepening the relationship between the developers and the game’s most important voices: our players.”
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The company then appeared to reveal it was completely overhauling the game sharing a number of areas where it said it would give immediate focus. They include:
Upping the Survival Game
More challenging and engaging AI encounters
More rewarding runs, with new types of loot and dynamic events
Making combat more tense and strategic
Doubling down on the Marathon Universe
Increased visual fidelity
More narrative and environmental storytelling to discover and interact with
A darker tone that delivers on the themes of the original trilogy
Adding more social experiences
A better player experience for solo/duos
Prox chat, so social stories can come to life
What do you make of Bungie delaying Marathon?
Testing isn't something where a developer takes a product and goes to The International Testing Board where everyone wears labcoats and scientifically evaluates a game and provides critical feedback.
Testing can come in many different forms and levels of depth. Unfortunately, woke companies have become increasingly closed off in how they evaluate games: less broader participation to more slimmer, targeted testing.
We see evidence of this in how many games are released and players immediately wonder how it was released without being tested. When woke companies desire "support," they create echo chambers. Unfortunately, testing now has devolved to echo-chamber exclusivity - often in-house.
Zero faith in any AAA company's testing being anything other than a few nose-ring comb-over friends of devs who won't say anything too critical.
What an interesting failure.