Marathon’s Re-Reveal Is A Lot More Popular Than The Trailer Which Caused Its Delay
Bungie 
Josh has been playing video games for longer than he can remember, kicking things off with a Master System before upgrading to a Mega Drive. Covering the industry since 2018, if a game has a strong story – or even better, the decisions you make determine the course of that story – odds are he’s going to like it. Or, you know, put Sonic or Pikachu on the cover and that’ll get his attention too.
Marathon was supposed to launch in September, but for various reasons, Bungie’s next live service venture still isn’t here. It has now been revealed that Marathon’s release date has been moved to March 2026, and those eagerly awaiting its arrival are warming up to its re-reveal far faster than they warmed up to the first look at its gameplay.
Bungie dropped a re-reveal for Marathon out of nowhere on Monday, confirming the game will now be here in March 2026. The 23-minute ViDoc shows off what exactly Bungie has been working on for the past few months, demonstrating how the studio has taken critique on board following earlier trailers and Marathon’s initial playtests.
Marathon s Re-Reveal Numbers Are Far Healthier Than What Came Before
So far, more than 15,000 people have hit like on the new Marathon video, and while that is considerably less than the 24,000 likes its maligned gameplay reveal received eight months ago, it’s the ratio that you need to pay attention to. While that gameplay reveal has more dislikes than likes – a staggering 29,000 – yesterday’s ViDoc has just 3,000, which means the likes tally is currently outpacing its dislike equivalent at a rate of 5:1.
That might not seem like much, but it will be a positive sign for those working on Marathon that they’re on the right track. It’s one of the few positives its developers have had to pull from the build to the game’s release since it was ready to really show Marathon off to the world. From the discovery of stolen art in its game to reports that its entire marketing campaign was unceremoniously canceled, the team needs a win, even if it’s just more people hitting like than dislike on one of its YouTube videos.
Bungie Has Clearly Been Listening
Even though details from Marathon’s alpha playtests have been a closely guarded secret, there were indicators as far back as June that Bungie had taken feedback on board and changed Marathon for the better. An official look at how Marathon has changed, and confirmation that the studio is once again ready to reveal a release date, all point to confidence in the game after some missteps.
The one thing Bungie remains staunch on, despite Concord comparisons, since it cost the same at launch, is Marathon’s price. Marathon will still be $40, but Bungie noted what exactly you’ll be getting for that entry fee. A year’s worth of “free” updates that will include new maps and various in-game events.
It will take work, and a dash of luck, for a $40 live service game to be successful in a world where you can play so many of them for free, but it is possible. While Concord failed at attempting to make that happen, Helldivers 2 not only succeeded but wound up becoming an unexpected live service juggernaut for PlayStation.
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