Marathon might already be falling into the deadly Concord trap

Marathon is supposed to be the next big FPS, but fans are already worried that it'll make the same mistakes as Concord.

18th Sep 2024 17:30

Image via Bungie | Sony

Concord Marathon

Concord might just be one of the worst game releases of all time, being shut down by Sony after a matter of days. Even if Concord is gone forever, many lessons have hopefully been learned. One of which is its $40 price tag, which immediately puts players off - especially when free-to-play competitors like Deadlock are looming.

Now, this same mistake looks to already be the banana peel for the next FPS game on the market. Bungie's Marathon isn't even out yet, but already, it's being branded as the next Concord by some concerned gamers.

Bungie appear to be making the deadly Concord mistake with Bungie

We headlined our Concord review as "Concord costs too much while offering too little new in a crowded genre", explaining in the copy, "It won't find an audience despite being a lot of fun to play." To little surprise, this was the same day that Sony pulled it from the stores amid disastrous player counts. 

Reports have now emerged that Bungie plans to slap the same entrance fee on its upcoming game Marathon, which has stirred immediate worries.

The original report details that Marathon is "considering" a $40 price tag, alongside news that it will not be a hero shooter, and there is a lot of inspiration from Escape from Tarkov, albeit with a typical Bungie twist.

Given the source's reputation, the original report was questioned but has since been corroborated by Forbes' Paul Tassi. Tassi revealed that Bungie is convinced that Marathon will follow the same victorious path that Helldivers 2 did instead of Concord's failure.

"It is simply too far along to pivot back to F2P restructuring anyway, so it will launch like this, barring anything seismic," Tassi wrote. The worried sentiment is still shared by fans, though.

"$40 sounds like Concord," one fan wrote on social media, while another added, "Somewhat positive feedback and a $40 price tag could spell doom." There are plenty of similar sentiments questioning why Bungie wouldn't be making a quick U-turn on its whole release campaign if there's any truth to the above, but as Tassi suggests, it might be too late.

Although we're waiting for official word from Bungie, Marathon already being brushed into the same category as Concord can't be a good thing. Even if Helldivers 2 is the viral success the team is aiming for, the morbid memory of Concord still looms large.

Jack Marsh

About The Author

Jack Marsh

Jack is an Esports Journalist at GGRecon. Graduating from the University of Chester, with a BA Honours degree in Journalism, Jack is an avid esports enthusiast and specialises in Rocket League, Call of Duty, VALORANT, and trending gaming news.

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