Marketing For Marathon Has Reportedly Been Cancelled Following Plagiarism Controversy

Summary

• Marathon is currently in a tough spot, with negative news seemingly being reported at every stop.
• Via a new report, it's being shared that paid marketing efforts for Marathon have been scrapped entirely.
• That report echoes previous information about marketing having the plug pulled before a supposed June trailer.
• With the game set for a September launch, a delay has become increasingly more likely.

Ever since PlayStation and Bungie held their major gameplay reveal for Marathon back in April, things have seemingly gone downhill at every stop. To start, in the initial hours following the Marathon presentation, Bungie had to respond to concerns about the game's still unreported pricing. Then, it was revealed that the game won't have proximity chat, a key feature of extraction shooters.

Marathon Is The Casual Extraction Shooter No One Wants

Marathon takes the friction out of the extraction shooter genre, but the friction is what gives the genre its depth.

If that wasn't enough, Bungie scrapped the Closed Alpha NDA requirement following mixed responses to the game. And if all of that wasn't enough, then an artist accused Bungie of plagiarizing her artwork, a claim that Bungie confirmed was true.

As a result, morale is in a "free-fall," according to a recent report, with employees describing the environment surrounding the live-service title as "actively hostile." All of that has put Marathon, a game that will reportedly need to be one of 2025s top five best-selling games to be considered a success, in a bad spot. Now, further reporting has suggested that things have only gotten worse.

Marathon Is Taking Heavy Blows Left And Right

As first reported by The Game Post, paid marketing for Marathon has apparently been canceled altogether. The information was first relayed by ex-IGN editor and current PlayStation podcaster Colin Moriarty, who reported the information via a person familiar with marketing.

"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," Moriarty reportedly said. "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."

Moriarty's reporting echoes what Paul Tassi of Forbes reported a week ago that Bungie had pulled the plug on the "main" marketing plan for Marathon, which would have reportedly included a trailer next month, along with the opening of preorders to gamers. Those plans are apparently being reworked.

The developments have created a scenario in which Marathon could potentially be delayed from its planned September launch. Both Sony and Bungie cannot afford another bomb, and the environment surrounding the game is getting more and more negative.

Marathon

WHERE TO PLAY

Video Games Need To Get Real About How Much $80 Actually Is To Most People

When finances are tight for many players, $80 games are a big ask.