{"id":1855652,"date":"2026-03-30T16:03:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T13:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1855652"},"modified":"2026-03-30T16:03:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T13:03:53","slug":"marathons-developers-say-they-are-in-it-for-the-long-haul-amidst-fears-the-game-has-underperformed-in-this-live-service-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1855652","title":{"rendered":"Marathon&#8217;s developers say they are &#8220;in it for the long haul&#8221; amidst fears the game has underperformed in this live service hell"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/marathon-2025\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Marathon (2026)<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Marathon&#8217;s developers say they are &#8220;in it for the long haul&#8221; amidst fears the game has underperformed in this live service hell<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Not a sprint.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Marathon---In-Death-MV.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Marathon - In Death MV\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Marathon---In-Death-MV.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Bungie<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Connor Makar avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"374\" height=\"374\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Connor Makar avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"tAtwiaBo_400x400.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"374\" height=\"374\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/connor-makar\">Connor Makar<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Staff Writer<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-03-30T16:03:53+00:00\">March 30, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathons-developers-say-they-are-in-it-for-the-long-haul-amidst-fears-the-game-has-underperformed-in-this-live-service-hell?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          53 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"22d4da80-cbfb-48da-8b63-ca4c6bd7817c\" data-name=\"Marathon (2026)\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Marathon (2026)\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Marathon (2026)\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Marathon (2026)\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Marathon (2026)\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Marathon (2026)\" title=\"Follow Marathon (2026)\"><br \/>\n  Follow Marathon (2026)<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Marathon developers have stated that the development team are &#8220;in it for the long haul&#8221; as part of a fresh PC performance guide.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/help.marathonthegame.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/47626640740756-Marathon-PC-Performance-Guide\">This guide<\/a>, released to players looking to jump into Bungie&#8217;s recent extraction shooter release, breaks down the recommended defaults, how to improve image quality, lays out future improvements, and helps optimise the game for those looking to squeeze as much performance and visual quality out of the game as possible.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Marathon - Official Beautifully Brutal Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2rY9qbQxCn0?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/2rY9qbQxCn0\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Marathon &#8211; Official Beautifully Brutal Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Watch Marathon&#8217;s release day cinematic trailer here!<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2rY9qbQxCn0\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Under the Future Improvements section, the team wrote: &#8220;Marathon is the first DirectX 12 title that Bungie has shipped. We know that many of you have noticed how much Marathon has changed visually over the past year. Much of that change came through your feedback, and we want to take a similar approach to performance in Marathon.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While we aren&#8217;t ready to provide specifics yet, we have already identified some smaller improvements that we can make soon, particularly to improve CPU performance. We also have longer-term changes planned that will further improve CPU performance. Our plan is to get improvements out as soon as we can, rather than wait to drop them all at the same time. (Even though this might make them less obvious!)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While we are very proud of what we have accomplished with the overall look and feel of the game since Alpha, we are in it for the long haul with Marathon. We look forward to many years of steady improvements to every aspect of the game. Thank you for taking this journey with us!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This post comes soon after industry analytics firm Allinea Analytics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathon-may-have-sold-roughly-12m-copies-worldwide-with-the-majority-on-steam-rather-than-playstation-according-to-analyst-estimates\">estimated the game had sold just over 1.2m sales<\/a> in the week or so following its release. These figures, largely corroborated by Paul Tassi from Forbes. Most of these sales happened on PC, with PS5 coming in a far-flung second place, and Xbox Series X\/S in third.<\/p>\n<p>Marathon has been running its end game <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathon-cryo-archive-what-you-need-to-know\">Cryo Archive map <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathons-ranked-system-explained-math-test\">ranked mode<\/a> for two weeks now, and recently reorganised the rotation of said modes in order <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/bungie-is-shifting-marathons-endgame-content-around-so-you-wont-have-to-pick-between-ranked-or-cryo-archive-this-weekend\">to allow players to better experience both<\/a> without them overlapping. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathon-bungie-is-considering-tweaking-cryo-archive\">Cryo Archive too has seen significant tweaks<\/a> after some players came away a touch frustrated from its initial rollout.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Marathon developers have stated that the development team are &#8220;in it for the long haul&#8221; as part of a fresh PC performance guide.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/help.marathonthegame.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/47626640740756-Marathon-PC-Performance-Guide\">This guide<\/a>, released to players looking to jump into Bungie&#8217;s recent extraction shooter release, breaks down the recommended defaults, how to improve image quality, lays out future improvements, and helps optimise the game for those looking to squeeze as much performance and visual quality out of the game as possible.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Marathon - Official Beautifully Brutal Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2rY9qbQxCn0?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/2rY9qbQxCn0\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Marathon &#8211; Official Beautifully Brutal Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Watch Marathon&#8217;s release day cinematic trailer here!<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2rY9qbQxCn0\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Under the Future Improvements section, the team wrote: &#8220;Marathon is the first DirectX 12 title that Bungie has shipped. We know that many of you have noticed how much Marathon has changed visually over the past year. Much of that change came through your feedback, and we want to take a similar approach to performance in Marathon.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While we aren&#8217;t ready to provide specifics yet, we have already identified some smaller improvements that we can make soon, particularly to improve CPU performance. We also have longer-term changes planned that will further improve CPU performance. Our plan is to get improvements out as soon as we can, rather than wait to drop them all at the same time. (Even though this might make them less obvious!)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While we are very proud of what we have accomplished with the overall look and feel of the game since Alpha, we are in it for the long haul with Marathon. We look forward to many years of steady improvements to every aspect of the game. Thank you for taking this journey with us!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This post comes soon after industry analytics firm Allinea Analytics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathon-may-have-sold-roughly-12m-copies-worldwide-with-the-majority-on-steam-rather-than-playstation-according-to-analyst-estimates\">estimated the game had sold just over 1.2m sales<\/a> in the week or so following its release. These figures, largely corroborated by Paul Tassi from Forbes. Most of these sales happened on PC, with PS5 coming in a far-flung second place, and Xbox Series X\/S in third.<\/p>\n<p>Marathon has been running its end game <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathon-cryo-archive-what-you-need-to-know\">Cryo Archive map <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathons-ranked-system-explained-math-test\">ranked mode<\/a> for two weeks now, and recently reorganised the rotation of said modes in order <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/bungie-is-shifting-marathons-endgame-content-around-so-you-wont-have-to-pick-between-ranked-or-cryo-archive-this-weekend\">to allow players to better experience both<\/a> without them overlapping. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathon-bungie-is-considering-tweaking-cryo-archive\">Cryo Archive too has seen significant tweaks<\/a> after some players came away a touch frustrated from its initial rollout.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Marathon (2026) Marathon&#8217;s developers say they are &#8220;in it for the long haul&#8221; amidst fears the game has underperformed in this live service hell Not a sprint. Image credit: Bungie News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on March 30, 2026 53 comments Follow Marathon (2026) Marathon developers have stated that the development [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1855652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1855652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1855652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1855652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1855652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}