Bungie Execs Vow to 'Evolve' Marathon, Shoot Down Rumors It Will 'Replace' Destiny

Bungie Studio Head Poria Torkan and Josh Dean, Head of Product and GM of Marathon, have outlined plans to 'evolve' Marathon amid significant internal shifts at Bungie.

In a September 21 video message to fans, Torkan and Dean discussed the future of Marathon, emphasizing that the game is an 'important part' of Bungie's direction.

"It didn't reach as many players as we'd hoped," Torkan admitted. "But we also know and understand that the game needs to evolve."

"We're gonna anchor on what makes Marathon special and evolve it beyond the genre constraints that we've placed on it. We're going to expand Marathon into a deeper survival experience that gives players more ways to take on its dangerous alien world," Dean continued.

He outlined the team's goal for Marathon by the end of year one, saying that Bungie hopes to "preserve what you already love, but find ways to provide players with more agency in how you play, whether in PvE or PvP."

Marathon has had a rough start since its launch in March; while it received critical acclaim upon release, according to data from SteamsCharts, it currently boasts around 1,390 active players, with a peak of just 2,630 in the last 24 hours. This is merely a small slice of Destiny 2's comparatively massive playerbase, and it seems the team at Bungie has taken notice of this, given its renewed efforts to reshape the game.

Perhaps most importantly, the two also confirmed that no, Marathon is not replacing Destiny, which had its own exciting announcements from the duo in that same video, which you can read here.

This comes as welcome news for Destiny fans, as Bungie infamously shuttered future content updates for Destiny 2 in May. The announcement didn't go over well, leaving players equal parts confused and distraught — but it seems the developer has decided against abandoning the IP in the wake of this strong community response.