Marathon, a new extraction shooter in development at Bungie, has had a rough time of it, to say the least. The game was shelved ahead of its original September 23 release , with vague promises of a 2025 fiscal year release, it was found that the game's art team had unceremoniously lifted artwork from an independent artist. Critical early hands-on tests of Marathon, which described the game as "promising, but missing something," with SkillUp commenting that the game lacked depth provided by its would-be competitors. Now, however, Sony has provided an update for those still eager to try out Marathon, promising an early 2026 launch date. Specifically, Sony and Bungie aim to have Marathon launch by March 2026.

It's been something of a hot year for shooters, especially team-based shooters, with games like Battlefield RedSec and Arc Raiders dominating Steam charts in recent weeks. Arc Raiders is especially relevant, since it is also a paid game and happens to be in the same genre as Marathon. Previous rumors indicated that Marathon would be available from $40, putting it directly in the line of fire of Arc Raiders, which costs $39.99 on Steam. Leaks about the most recent Marathon play tests have been sparse, so it's difficult to know if the game has been improved significantly, but all indications suggest it will be facing an uphill battle.