Former Marathon Art Director Joseph Cross admitted in a candid interview that comparisons of the upcoming game to the market failure Concord have become a serious test for the team.
Both games were perceived through the prism of high financial risk, a paid model, and connection with Sony's large-scale plans for the development of games-as-a-service. Cross called the situation a failure of "being in the wrong place at the wrong time," noting that the shadow of another project's failure greatly affected the perception of his team's work.
Despite criticism online, the developers maintained faith in the unique visual style of Marathon. Cross emphasized that as an artist, he was not responsible for gameplay or balance, but is proud of the created aesthetics, which, unlike the "easily forgotten" projects of competitors, attracts attention and evokes strong emotions.
The path to release was also complicated by a scandal involving accusations of logo plagiarism, which temporarily damaged the game's image. Nevertheless, Cross noted that attacks from online "haters" will not deprive him of his pride in the realized artistic vision.
Marathon has been in development for about six years, and the team has grown from 12 to hundreds of employees. This timeframe entails costs of hundreds of millions of dollars and makes the project one of the riskiest in Bungie's history. Cross emphasized the harsh side of the business: every day of work on a product that does not yet generate revenue increases the studio's losses.
