Bungie’s recent unveiling of its first-person extraction shooter, Marathon, during a live stream has stirred up quite a bit of chatter on social media and platforms like Reddit. Many are drawing parallels to Concord, the hero shooter that Sony pulled from the market a mere month after its debut. In light of this, a former Concord developer took to the Marathon subreddit, urging the community to approach this new game with an open mind.
“I know Concord didn’t connect with players, and we’ve heard the feedback loud and clear,” wrote the developer, posting through a Reddit account named MrSpug. “It was truly disheartening to watch our project crumble and become the subject of ridicule online.”
Reflecting on their experience at Firewalk Studios, which Sony closed shortly after yanking Concord, the developer expressed sympathy for the Bungie team, acknowledging the enormous effort that must have gone into creating Marathon. They applauded the team’s courage to tackle such a competitive genre.
“I poured my heart into Concord and did everything I could,” they shared. “We didn’t meet expectations, but that’s no reason to project those failures onto others.”
While Concord had its differences from Marathon, both games share a link through their publisher, Sony. Critics have been vocal about Bungie’s decision to shun the free-to-play model, which seems reminiscent of Concord’s path. Marathon is set to be more affordable than most new releases, priced at less than a typical full-priced game, likely around $40 for its September launch. Yet, the very presence of a price tag has sparked discussions of whether Marathon might suffer a similar fate to Concord.
“I didn’t want to be ‘that’ developer, drawing attention to myself as if I have skin in the game,” the former Concord developer added in a follow-up comment. “But labeling a game a failure before it even hits shelves seems outrageous to me.”
