Bungie’s extraction shooter Marathon launched in early 2026, and the community response has been pretty harsh. While Steam reviewers give it an 80% positive rating from 47,164 reviews, that number doesn’t reflect the true sentiment out there. The departure of the game’s CEO and several server outages have only added to a rocky start.
The latest issue occurred on April 14, when Marathon’s servers went down for Update 1.0.6, as reported by MP1st. Scheduled maintenance is common, but each outage fuels a narrative that Bungie can’t stabilize a product they staked their studio’s future on. Currently, the game has 7,062 concurrent players on Steam — a number that would worry any live-service title that relies on a stable player base.
At $27.99, Marathon is priced below the typical $39.99–$59.99 range for extraction shooters. This suggests Bungie has lowered its commercial expectations. Coupled with the CEO’s exit reported in late June 2026, it points to a studio facing some serious financial and operational challenges.
PlayStation’s broader live-service strategy is now under scrutiny. With Concord’s failure and Marathon’s struggle to gain traction, Sony’s reliance on Bungie as its live-service engine seems increasingly misguided. As of late June 2026, industry analysts noted that PlayStation continues to double down on live service despite having faced back-to-back setbacks in the genre.
The timing is tough for Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, which launches as the gaming community discusses various high-profile letdowns. Ubisoft’s nostalgic approach for one of the franchise’s most cherished entries — IGN provides a full breakdown of the AC chronology for context — arrives in a market yearning for dependable single-player experiences, especially since live-service fatigue is becoming evident.
| Steam Review Score | 80% positive |
| Total Steam Reviews | 47,164 |
| Current Steam Players | 7,062 |
| Current Steam Price | $27.99 |
| Release Date | March 5, 2026 |
Community sentiment paints a darker picture than the overall review score suggests. One Steam reviewer bluntly stated: “Not worth killing the entirety of Bungie for” — a sentiment that has appeared frequently across the data, showing it resonated enough to be widely cited or upvoted. When players frame a game’s failure as a threat to the studio’s survival, it indicates that disappointment has turned into something much more damaging.
What To Watch
- Player retention through Q3 2026: A live-service game that can’t maintain 10,000 concurrent players in its initial months often struggles to recover without significant content updates or a shift to free-to-play — keep an eye out for Bungie’s announcements on either front.
- PlayStation’s next studio move: With Bungie’s CEO gone and Marathon underperforming, Sony might need to reconsider how much independence and funding it provides to its acquired studio before a turnaround can happen.
- PS Plus inclusion timing: Industry forecasts already suggest Marathon is unlikely to be part of PS Plus in July 2026, but adding it to the free tier could be the most realistic way to rebuild a player base — closely monitor Sony’s monthly lineup announcements.
Sarah Chen
Sarah Chen is the Reviews and Guides Editor at Explosion.com. With a background in game design studies and 6 years of gaming journalism, Sarah brings technical insight to her reviews and creates comprehensive guides that help players get the most out of their games. She has reviewed over 200 titles across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms. Her current obsessions include FromSoftware titles and indie roguelikes.
