Bungie reportedly reviving sci-fi Marathon series as squad-based shooter

A new report claims Destiny developer Bungie is turning its classic sci-fi series, Marathon, into an extraction-based shooter.

Bungie had several projects under its belt before changing the status quo of console gaming with Halo in the early aughts.

The Marathon franchise constitutes one of the studio’s more interesting pre-Halo endeavors, with the first game charging players with thwarting an alien invasion.

Marathon’s futuristic setting on a colony ship in outer space offered far more than another FPS experience, thanks to its deep storytelling.

And two games followed in its stead in 1995 and 1996, yet the series lived on in some part via references in Halo. Apparently, Bungie’s ready to revisit the world of Marathon yet again.

Bungie is bringing back Marathon as a new kind of shooter

Rumors about Destiny spinoffs have circulated for the last several months. In addition, company CEO Pete Parsons previously teased the studio would launch at least one non-Destiny game by 2025. But a new report suggests Bungie’s next project is far from what many would have guessed.

Sources familiar with the studio’s operations told Insider Gaming that a Marathon revival is in the works. The alleged game will assume the form of a “three-man squad extraction-based shooter,” the outlet wrote in its report.

Marathon’s reboot supposedly functions like other extraction-focused shooters, such that players can expect to select their mission, equip a loadout, track down loot and complete missions on a map, then withdraw.

Insider Gaming’s sources described it as the “ultimate example of a living game,” complete with a progression system and seasonal rewards.

At present, the project remains in a pre-alpha phase, though there’s no word on when exactly Bungie will lift the veil on its plans.

Such a report comes as Destiny 2 players await the release of Lightfall, an expansion slated to launch on February 28, 2023.