Sony is determined to ensure Marathon doesn’t become another Concord.
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hermen Hulst, during an annual business presentation (via Push Square and Eurogamer), reflected on Sony’s recent history with live service games, including both the catastrophic failure of Concord and the difficulties facing the upcoming Marathon.
Looking back on Concord, Hulst acknowledged that Concord wasn’t adequately “differentiated” to properly “resonate with players,” given that its market segment is “highly competitive.”
To that end, Sony is hoping to do better with Marathon, as well as with Fairgame$, another live service shooter in development.
Will Marathon Be Any Different?
According to Hulst, Sony has learned from their mistakes, and they've “introduced much more rigorous processes for validating our creative, commercial, [and] development assumptions.”
That’s all well and good, but it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for Marathon.
The extraction shooter has been faced with a plagiarism controversy over stolen art assets, which has reportedly caused morale at Bungie to plunge, along with what Hulst charitably called “varied” response to the alpha.
The Sony business presentation listed Marathon as set for a fiscal year 2025 release window. That does include its scheduled release date of September 23, but the vagueness...
