Marathon, the forthcoming extraction shooter from Bungie, was officially unveiled during a stream from the developer’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, on Saturday.
As part of a media preview event, I was invited by Bungie to Washington for an immersive experience, spending approximately six hours with the game, previewing the reveal event ahead of its release on September 23, and interacting with various creative team members involved in its development.
During my time there, I had a 20-minute conversation with Joe Ziegler, the game director for Marathon, and Andrew Witts, the gameplay director. We delved into how they characterize a Bungie game, the target audience for this ambitious PvP title, and insights gained from Destiny 2‘s successes and setbacks in the live service arena.
Polygon: Bungie is recognized for adapting beloved PC-only genres for console gamers. With Marathon, you aim to introduce the uniquely challenging extraction shooter genre to a broader audience, leveraging your studio’s substantial talent and resources. Given that this is your first foray into this genre, what challenges arise in appealing to console players and new customers?
Joe Ziegler: Absolutely. A former colleague once said, “Impossible is my favorite kind of possible.” It’s not so much about it being impossible, but rather that tackling challenging tasks is what makes our work exciting. When Andrew and I joined the project two years ago, we prioritized defining the experience we wanted to create.
We’re not merely trying to build an extraction shooter. Our goal is to develop a session-based survival experience that captures the essence of risking it all in a dangerous environment and emerging with compelling stories to tell. While we included some extraction conventions, our core focus was to streamline what we wanted to build, emphasizing a team-oriented survival experience.
Andrew Witts: We had extensive discussions on the expectations associated with a Bungie game. It’s vital for our survival action FPS to resonate with what players anticipate from us, particularly regarding the tension of gameplay. A significant aspect is how the gameplay induces tension, as it encourages communication among players in a team environment.
