Importance Score: 45 / 100 🔵
Bungie’s highly anticipated multiplayer title, Marathon, is poised to be a significant live-service offering under the PlayStation banner. This upcoming game ventures into the demanding realm of extraction shooters, a genre known for its intensity, but it originates from a renowned studio committed to high-quality productions. The pivotal question on many gamers’ minds is: What will be the price of Marathon upon its launch this fall? As of now, Bungie remains tight-lipped about the cost.
Marathon’s Price Point Still Under Wraps
During a recent gameplay showcase, revealing a September 23 release date, audiences were given a comprehensive look at Bungie’s distinctive approach to the competitive and collaborative PvPvE genre, marking a modern iteration of the classic ‘90s FPS series. However, the crucial factor determining launch success for the creators of Halo and Destiny remains: Marathon‘s pricing strategy. Despite being a Sony-owned entity, Bungie has yet to disclose the game’s price, though indications suggest it won’t be a free-to-play experience.
Premium Product, Not Full Price
According to reports from Tamoor Hussain of GameSpot, who recently had hands-on experience with the shooter, Marathon is slated to launch as a “premium product,” implying a price tag for entry. Hussain’s account details features like a battle pass, an initial offering of three maps with a fourth soon to follow, core gameplay mechanics, an emerging narrative, and a character progression system still in nascent stages of development.
Speculation on Pricing Models
Industry analyst Paul Tassi from Forbes has questioned the viability of a $70 price tag given the described content, a sentiment seemingly echoed by Bungie, who clarified that Marathon “will not be a full-priced title.” The prevailing theory suggests a $40 price point—a common strategy for premium games aiming for broad appeal. This price aligns with titles like Helldivers 2 and is notably less than the cost of Destiny 2‘s The Final Shape expansion.
Lessons from Concord and the Live-Service Landscape
However, $40 was also the price point for Sony’s Concord, a hero shooter that struggled to attract players, leading to its swift removal and refunds. The Concord situation ignited debates about whether a free-to-play model, or inclusion in PlayStation Plus, could have altered its trajectory. This question looms over every new live-service shooter in the wake of Concord‘s underperformance.
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
Bungie’s History and Market Realities
Historically, Bungie has not offered its games for free. Even Destiny 2, while featuring a free-to-play version, reserves significant content behind paywalls. This approach is understandable given the substantial development costs associated with games like Destiny 2 and Marathon. With AAA titles like Spider-Man 2 requiring massive sales to become profitable, relying solely on microtransactions is risky unless a game achieves phenomenal popularity akin to Marvel Rivals, a level of mainstream appeal that Marathon’s hardcore nature may not readily attain.
Balancing Genre Niche and Brand Power
Unlike Destiny 2, Marathon appears to prioritize PvPvE gameplay without a traditional story campaign, positioning it within a more specialized genre. In a market saturated with free-to-play PvP games, any upfront cost could deter potential players, especially those intrigued by the studio behind the iconic Halo 3 era. Bungie and Sony are evidently banking on their established brand reputation to drive initial player interest in Marathon. Whether brand loyalty will translate into sales in a competitive landscape remains to be seen.