Is Marathon the Next Concord?

Yet ANOTHER Sony-Owned Studio (Bungie) Bets BIG on a Paid Multiplayer-Only Shooter in a Free-to-Play World... But... Will It Work This Time?

When Bungie revealed the first full gameplay for Marathon, its upcoming sci-fi extraction shooter, many gamers had one HUGE burning question: is it free-to-play? The answer is now a definitive... NOPE!

According to official statements from Bungie, Marathon will be a premium title, meaning players will have to pay to play. For a full game experience including a campaign mode, sure, why not? Oh... Wait.... There's no campaign?

It's Only Multiplayer?

Umm....

Hmmm..

It won’t be priced at the full $70 AAA standard. Most likely the price point would be closer to $30 or $40. Similar to Concord that was... $40 USD. Have we learned NOTHING, Sony?

Bungie also confirmed that Marathon is set to launch on September 23rd, 2025.

The optics thus far... aren’t great.

I genuinely feel like these types of games never stand a real chance—at least not long-term—because they’re missing what many of us actually want: a solid single-player campaign. While I can't speak for everyone - There's something to be said for a game to chill and play through a campaign and get familiar with the world before diving into the multiplayer side of things. Especially when paying an up front cost. Watching the cinematic shorts Bungie has dropped for Marathon's lore, I can’t help but think, “Hey, this looks really amazing... so why isn’t it part of a campaign?” EXACTLY like Concord, they blew their load on cinematic hype with nothing to back it up in terms of story-driven gameplay. Please someone tell me why is Sony so afraid to build actual campaigns if they’re charging money upfront? If I had to guess, it would be greed. Y'know... Grabbing at that mystical 'Fortnite' golden goose.

While I personally don’t think Marathon will crash and burn as hard as Concord, At least immediately I do believe it’ll eventually go free-to-play at some point. And when that happens, those who paid early will just end up being the ones who forked over cash for ...early access—and nothing more.

With games like Marvel Rivals launching as free-to-play and Call of Duty dominating the multiplayer space already, asking people to pay upfront for a multiplayer-only title is always going to be a tough sell—especially without a campaign.

In a saturated multiplayer market filled with polished, competitive free-to-play options like Apex Legends, Warzone, and Fortnite, amongst too many others to even bother naming - asking players to drop even $30-$40 bucks on a multiplayer-only experience with no single-player campaign is a MASSIVE gamble.

...And gamers haven’t forgotten the Concord disaster. Hell that was still within the past few months.

Released in 2024 by Firewalk Studios (with full support from Sony), Concord launched as a $40 “live service hero shooter” and was immediately slammed for its extremely woke marketing, uninspired gameplay, and total lack of originality. The characters were ugly af to boot. Critics and players alike completely dragged the game from the jump, not just for the ideological pandering, but for having the sheer audacity to be charging a premium price in a space where most competitors cost nothing. The obvious result? Concord failed to secure a player base, servers were shut down within two weeks, and the studio was closed down completely just months later—one of the most embarrassing failures in all of gaming history.

Now, Bungie is walking that very same tightrope. Marathon apparently has no single-player campaign to speak to, and it's adopting a seasonal model with battle passes—the same model Destiny 2 players have already been growing weary of. While Bungie undeniably has a better track record and fan goodwill than Firewalk ever did, the elephant in the room question still remains: will people pay for another online-only shooter when the free-to-play space is overflowing?

I keep going back to how... It’s a massive risk.

If the pricing model isn’t handled perfectly—and if the gameplay fails to immediately hook players—Marathon could face the same fate as Concord or even Anthem. Bungie says more details will arrive this summer, but until then, I can't help but feel like Marathon is setting itself up to be the next big live-service flop...

I suppose time will tell. It should be very interesting to see, regardless.

~Smash