Marathon has found itself in a sticky spot in the last week or two. The game became the subject of an intense debate of plagiarism and immoral practices when it was discovered that the art team had featured ‘stolen textures’ in the version of the game that folks have been playing.
Now, it has been claimed that Marathon has cancelled all planned paid marketing, suggesting that a major delay (or even a full-scale cancellation) is on the horizon. Marathon was due to be released on September 23, but this latest debacle has thrown the hype train clean off the rails.
‘Fairly Unusual Move’
In a recent episode of the Sacred Symbols podcast, Colin Moriarty (of former IGN fame) explained:
I was told by someone familiar with marketing plans in a key overseas market that there are now no plans to do paid marketing for Marathon at all.
I don’t know if those plans were affected by what has recently happened or if that was always the plan or whatever. But it is considered a fairly unusual move for a game of this high profile.
(Thanks to The Game Post for the spot)
It seems highly unlikely that Bungie will meet the September 23 release date, as the chatter around Marathon is now alarmingly negative. This was the fourth time in recent years that Bungie has found itself the subject of a plagiarism debate, and Marathon was already finding it tough shaping up in the extraction shooter space.
It’s worth stressing that Moriarty’s comments are unconfirmed and are subject to being discredited by Bungie, but it gels quite perfectly with the consensus around the shooter. It’s tough to see a world where Bungie is blind to the awful spot the game is and fully anticipates a strong launch.
Do you think Marathon should be delayed? Let me know on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Fallout might be too hard to remaster
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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Just shut down Bungie. They’re not the only Sony studio struggling more closures and delays on the way…..