Halo and Destiny creators, Bungie, have made their iconic shooter game Marathon freely available on Steam, with sequels Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity set to follow. The ports to Steam are managed by the renowned Aleph One community who’ve kept the Marathon 2 game engine alive through an open source project. Despite not being as esteemed as fellow shooters DOOM and Wolfenstein 3D, Marathon launched in 1994 and had a significant influence on later FPS games like Halo and Destiny. The reincarnated version on Steam keeps the original format but introduces features like optional widescreen HUD support, positional audio, and 60+fps interpolation.
In addition to these releases, Bungie is developing a modern variation of Marathon with a shift towards player-versus-player gameplay and no single-player campaign. Although not an immediate sequel, game director Christopher Barrett implies that it will be another chapter in the same universe with nods to the old game’s lore. However, this new version, coined as Nu-Marathon, is experiencing major roadblocks – its release was delayed to 2025, and Barrett was replaced by former Valorant director Joe Ziegler.
Bungie is currently grappling with several issues, including layoffs from last year and a potential full takeover by Sony if the upcoming Final Shape expansion for Destiny 2 fails to impress fans. The revival of Marathon and its sequels might offer Bungie an opportunity to reconnect with their original audience, in light of their recent struggles.
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