With Destiny publishing rights reverting to Bungie, the developer has a change to prove that the negative stigma surrounding AAA publishers is correct and that it forces microtransactions in games.
Shift Up once again proves that they appreciate their team, as they have just rewarded their developers with new Nintendo Switch 2s to celebrate the Stellar Blade sales reaching 3 million.
Marathon was slated to launch on Sept. 23, 2025 across Xbox, PC, and PlayStation, but Bungie will share the new release date in the fall.
Yeah, you can delay it as much as you want but you ain’t gonna wash that stink off.
It will lessen though and possibly make all the difference if it launches in a state that rectified a lot of the issues people had with it. A LOT of ifs of course.
If you really gotta play ... play the better extraction shooter this year : ARC Raiders
Delaying the inevitable. Bungie hoping the negative publicity will blow over. 🙄
They can't cancel it until a themed controller has been released first... like concord.
If they were absolutely certain about the quality of Marathon, then they had not delayed it just now.
So they've basically just confirmed what everyone, well, a lot of people saw: Marathon is not ready yet, still no soul to be seen.
"Doubling down on the Marathon Universe"
They're doubling down on soul, thank goodness this feedback illuminated that for them...
and N4G was littered with comments like : Marathon looks really good, maybe you're a hater and the likes blah blah ... especially under articles which compared it with Arc Raiders ....
The latest game in BioWare’s fantasy role-playing series went through ten years of development turmoil
In early November, on the eve of the crucial holiday shopping season, staffers at the video-game studio BioWare were feeling optimistic. After an excruciating development cycle, they had finally released their latest game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and the early reception was largely positive. The role-playing game was topping sales charts on Steam, and solid, if not spectacular, reviews were rolling in.
Its easy they called the die hard fans people in their nerd caves who will buy anything and then went woke to reach modern audiences....insulting the nerds in their caves along the way showing utter contempt for their fan base. very hapy it failed and any company who insults their fan base and treat their customers with contempt and insults, in future, i also hope fail.
It’s disappointing but not surprising to see what's happening with Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the broader situation at BioWare. The layoffs are tragic — no one wants to see talented developers lose their jobs. But when studios repeatedly create games that alienate their own fanbase, outcomes like this become unfortunately predictable.
There’s a pattern we’re seeing far too often: beloved franchises are revived, only to be reshaped into something almost unrecognizable. Changes are made that no one asked for, often at the expense of what originally made these games special. Then, when long-time fans express concern or lose interest, they’re told, “This game might not be for you.” But when those same fans heed that advice and don’t buy the game, suddenly they're labeled as toxic, sexist, bigoted, or worse.
Let’s be clear: the overwhelming majority of gamers have no issue with diversity, LGBTQ+ representation, or strong female leads. In fact, some of the most iconic characters in gaming — like Aloy, Ellie, or FemShep — are proof that inclusivity and excellent storytelling can and do go hand in hand. The issue arises when diversity feels performative, forced, or disconnected from the narrative — when characters or themes are inserted not to serve the story, but to satisfy a corporate DEI checklist. Audiences can tell the difference.
When studios chase approval from a vocal minority that often doesn’t even buy games — while simultaneously dismissing loyal fans who actually do — they risk not just the success of individual titles, but the health of their entire studio. Telling your core customers “don’t buy it if you don’t like it” is not a viable business strategy. Because guess what? Many of us won’t. And when the game fails commercially, blaming those very fans for not supporting it is both unfair and self-defeating.
Gamers aren’t asking for less diversity or less progress. We’re asking for better writing, thoughtful character development, and a respect for the franchises we’ve supported for decades. When you give people great games that speak to them — whether they’re old fans or new players — they will show up. But if you keep making games for people who don’t play them, don’t be surprised when those who do stop showing up
I thought the writing and character development were fine. Sometimes things just dont resonate with people.
"No matter what Bungie ultimately does, this will be a telling moment in gaming. If the developer turned publisher winds up removing or changing the microtransactions for the better, the negative stigma surrounding huge publishers will have been proven right. If it winds up not changing things and doubling down on these manipulative practices, then we will know that developers are just as prone to falling into the allure of increased profits."
I don't want to be "that guy," however I see this nothing more than some sort of marketing tactic to hype the 3rd game due to the shortcomings of 1 and 2. I did play the first game; quit after the release of Dark Below (since I saw all this coming); and skipped over 2 entirely even though PlayStation Plus had a base version of 2 for free. From a customer stance, this is a good move on Bungie since now they control the fate of the 3rd game; from a business standpoint, something else is going on behind the scenes we don't know about, and I don't want to be a part of it.
This needed to be proven?
That said, it can also be done by the devs as well, but for published games like this, the publisher will agree to whatever the dev may want, and usually will implement their own things as well.
I really don't think Activision makes a difference in Destiny's case. Destiny's issues aren't things you can necessarily put on Publishers. It's a developer level issue I think. In alot of cases the Publishers do create issues like the EA and Star Wars titles. But I just can't figure how this ones on Activision
The Eververse was added because for at least 6 months of Destinys 1st year there is no money coming in outside of the product selling to late buyers. Activision wanted bungie to produce 4 dlcs a year plus the yearly expansion and this was too much work so they cut it down to 2 and added the Eververse to sustain the rest of the profits. Activision only cares about potential returns so Bungie had to produce something to keep the flow going.
Destiny 3 will be the same DLC, micro transaction garbage its always been. NOTHING will change...They will not make story driven games or even a "Spiritual Successor" to Halo.
Don't get your hopes up folks