Sony sees Marathon as the future of PlayStation live-service games
Sony says reactions to Bungie’s Marathon are mixed but vows to avoid Concord’s pitfalls, doubling down on live-service plans and targeting release by March 2026.
Table of Contents
Key takeaways:
- Sony remains committed to live-service games despite recent failures.
- Bungie’s Marathon is central to Sony’s revised strategy.
- Marathon is still scheduled to launch by March 2026.
- Marathon’s mixed alpha feedback and an art theft controversy pose major challenges.
According to IGN, Sony is reinforcing its focus on live-service games despite recent setbacks. In its latest business presentation, the company outlined a renewed strategy, with Bungie’s Marathon at the center. With tightened development processes and a firm release window, Sony hopes this title can restore confidence in its live-service vision.
Sony business presentation
During Sony’s recent business presentation, Studio Business Group CEO Hermen Hulst reaffirmed the company’s commitment to live-service gaming, despite setbacks like Concord. Hulst emphasized that Sony remains “very, very committed to building a diverse and resilient live-service portfolio,” highlighting successes such as Helldivers 2 and Destiny 2 as examples of sustainable live-service models. He acknowledged the difficulties of competing in a saturated market and was candid about Concord’s failure, attributing it to a lack of meaningful differentiation.
In response, Sony has introduced more rigorous internal processes to assess a game’s creative and commercial potential early in development. These new methods are being actively applied to upcoming titles, including Bungie’s Marathon, which is undergoing intensive testing and development as part of this restructured approach.
Sony live-service games problems
Sony’s push into live-service gaming has encountered several obstacles. Concord stands out as a major misstep, taken offline just two weeks after launch due to poor player reception and weak sales. The company has also canceled multiple in-development projects, including a God of War multiplayer spin-off and The Last of Us Online. Despite substantial investment in studios like Bungie, Haven, and Firewalk, some titles were quietly shelved or postponed. Mixed early feedback for Marathon has added pressure to deliver a breakout hit and restore confidence in Sony’s live-service roadmap.
Sony plans for Marathon
Sony has positioned Marathon as a key part of its reworked live-service strategy. Although feedback from the Marathon’s recent alpha test was described as “varied,” Hulst remains optimistic. He described Marathon as a bold and innovative title, designed around continuous testing and player feedback to ensure a compelling experience at launch. According to Hulst, this iterative process (testing, analyzing, improving) is central to how Sony plans to support its live-service titles long term.
To ensure better outcomes, Sony has revamped how it evaluates each game’s viability across all stages of development. The failure of Concord prompted this shift, and Marathon now serves as a high-profile test case for these improved internal standards. As Bungie’s first new IP in over a decade, Marathon carries significant expectations. But the game’s expectations have already been damaged by the Marathon art theft drama, which has made many people very skeptical about its future.
Marathon new release date
Sony has confirmed that Marathon is scheduled to launch by the end of March 2026. Despite speculation about delays, Hulst reaffirmed during the business presentation that the game remains on track for release within the current fiscal year. This timeline aligns with Sony’s goal of launching at least six live-service titles by that deadline, even after scaling back from the original twelve announced in 2022.
With internal processes now focused on early validation and constant iteration, Sony is confident that Marathon will meet expectations. The company views this release as not just a product launch, but a crucial step in rebuilding trust in its live-service ambitions.
For Bungie, this means a tight deadline to resolve the alleged stolen art aesthetic issue in Marathon: a challenge that comes on top of the already demanding development workload. Can they pull it off? Only time will tell.
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