Bungie to Reveal Marathon Gameplay in Upcoming Livestream

Bungie is set to unveil more details about its eagerly anticipated PvP extraction shooter, Marathon, during an exciting gameplay livestream scheduled for this Saturday, April 12 (or Sunday, April 13, depending on your global location). The excitement kicked off last week when Bungie released a cryptic tweet featuring a 15-second video that sent fans into a frenzy of speculation and investigation as part of an "extensive alternative reality game."

Astute players 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." Another intriguing message decoded from the video read: "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." This sparked a global effort among thousands of community members to unlock the date for the gameplay reveal.

Bungie announced that the livestream will air at 10 am PDT (San Francisco) / 1 pm EDT (New York) / 6 pm BST (London) / 7 pm CEST (Berlin/Paris) / 9 pm GST (Dubai) on Saturday, April 12, and at 2 am JST (Tokyo) / 3 am AEST (Sydney) / 5 pm NZST (Auckland) on Sunday, April 13.

Marathon, first revealed in May 2023, is a reboot of the iconic Bungie franchise, infused with themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." Set on the enigmatic planet of Tau Ceti IV, players will embody Runners—cybernetic mercenaries engineered to endure the planet's unforgiving conditions. As they navigate the remnants of a lost colony, players will seek out valuable loot, including new weapons and gear.

Despite the initial reveal, updates have been sparse. A development update video in October provided some insight into Marathon's mechanics, though Bungie emphasized the game's early stage of development. Amid these updates, Sony, following the abrupt cancellation of the live-service shooter Concord, announced a strategic pivot. In November 2023, Sony president Hiroki Totoki disclosed plans to launch only six of the twelve live-service games originally slated for completion by March 2026, indicating the cancellation of projects like The Last of Us multiplayer game.

Bungie itself has faced its share of challenges. In July 2024, the company laid off 220 staff members—17% of its workforce—less than a year after another round of 100 layoffs. Additionally, former Marathon director Chris Barrett was reportedly fired following an internal misconduct investigation, subsequently filing a lawsuit against Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bungie for over $200 million.

To catch the Marathon gameplay reveal live, tune in to the official Marathon Twitch channel on April 12.