Sony is "very confident" in Marathon after playtests revealed "good points," as well as "not good points" that have since been changed for Bungie's Arc Raiders challenger

Marathon runners in pre-order bonus styles

(Image credit: Bungie)

Being both a new FPS from Bungie and the company's first major release since being acquired by Sony, there's a lot of anticipation for Marathon. As we're now one month out from the sci-fi shooter's release, the project came up during Sony's latest earnings call, where the publisher expressed confidence in it.

Lin Tao, Sony's CFO, mentioned playtests of Marathon that revealed both "good points and not good points," the latter leading to changes. Now that they've been implemented, everyone's feeling better about the game. "After the modifications, we are very confident to release it on March 5," she adds, per a translation from Genki on Twitter.

Pre-Order Trailer | Marathon - YouTube

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Then, in January of this year, the early March release date was locked in amid trailers and behind-the-scenes footage showing the kind of fun, smooth experience we’ve come to expect from Bungie. There was some internal changeover all the while, as Julia Nardin took over as creative director from Steve Cotton in May 2025.

Tao's comment suggests it's all managed to come together. A continuation from the original Marathon trilogy from the '90s, this entry is multiplayer-focused, as players become cybernetically enhanced scavengers searching for loot and supplies on a space colony after some form of catastrophe. It's very bright and futuristic, and the narrative is purportedly shaped through your decisions over time, which is always intriguing.

On top of everything else, this is the team's first non-Destiny-related game since 2014, and it's quite nice to have something totally fresh to dig into from the studio. For good or ill, it should at least be interesting - and quite satisfying to move around in, as is the Bungie way. We'll find out on March 5.

Marathon is a greatest hits of '90s futurism, according to Bungie lead, who says the shooter was "deeply inspired" by wild PlayStation ads and "translucent DualShocks."

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