Bungie to Unveil Marathon Gameplay in Upcoming Livestream

Bungie is gearing up to unveil more about its highly anticipated PvP extraction shooter, Marathon, through an exciting gameplay livestream scheduled for this Saturday, April 12 (or Sunday, April 13, depending on your location). The excitement kicked off last week when the Destiny developer shared a cryptic tweet featuring a 15-second video that sent fans into a frenzy, diving deep into an "extensive alternative reality game."

Eager players quickly discovered that the ASCII art in the video contained "a snippet of footage from the initial trailer," specifically showing "the runner sprinting down a hall from the trailer." The intrigue deepened with another message: "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 acknowledged the community's efforts, stating, "Thousands of community members across the world worked together to unlock the gameplay reveal date for Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter Marathon." The livestream is set to start at 10 am PDT (San Francisco) / 1 pm EDT (New York) / 6 pm BST (London) / 7 pm CEST (Berlin/Paris) / 9 pm GST (Dubai) or on Sunday, April 13 at 2 am JST (Tokyo) / 3 am AEST (Sydney) / 5 pm NZST (Auckland).

Marathon was first revealed in May 2023 as a reboot of the classic Bungie franchise, embracing themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." The game is set on the mysterious planet of Tau Ceti IV, where players will embody Runners—cybernetic mercenaries engineered to withstand the planet's harsh conditions. As they explore the remnants of a lost colony, players will hunt for valuable loot, including new weapons and gear.

Since its initial reveal, updates have been sparse, though a development video in October provided insights into Marathon's mechanics. Bungie emphasized the game's early stage of development at the time. Amidst this, Sony's strategic shift away from live-service games, highlighted by the cancellation of Concord and the decision to launch only six of the twelve planned live service games by March 2026, has also affected Bungie.

Bungie has faced its own challenges, including significant layoffs. In July 2024, the studio laid off 220 staff members—17% of its workforce—less than a year after 100 other layoffs. Additionally, former Marathon director Chris Barrett was allegedly fired following an internal misconduct investigation, leading to Barrett subsequently suing 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.