Not Concord 2.0: Sony Not Giving Up on Marathon Support Amidst Bungie's Disappointing Financials

Despite Sony Interactive Entertainment's financial difficulties and mixed player forecasts, the company is not abandoning support for Marathon. During a report to investors, Sony's management made it clear that they see long-term potential in Bungie's new shooter — and the comparison to Concord's failure clearly doesn't favor the latter.

Sony CFO Lin Tao acknowledged that revenue from Bungie's projects was lower than expected. As a result, the company revised the studio's business plan and fully wrote off the value of fixed assets related to Bungie, excluding goodwill. The total impairment amounted to approximately $560 million, and the cumulative reduction in the value of the Bungie acquisition over the year reached $765 million.

One of the reasons cited is the sharp drop in Destiny 2's audience after a weak expansion last year and the postponement of a new content update. Additionally, Sony's expectations for Marathon's launch were, apparently, significantly higher than the actual results.

The company did not disclose exact Marathon sales figures. According to analysts' estimates, the game's audience currently ranges from one to two million people. However, instead of a project shutdown scenario, as happened with Concord, Sony intends to continue developing the shooter.

The company emphasized that player reception remains positive: Marathon received 82 points on Metacritic, and over 90% of reviews on Steam were positive. Sony also noted high audience retention and user engagement metrics.

Now SIE expects to improve the game's results through new content, gameplay refinements, and an expanded user base. Bungie has already presented a rough development plan for the first two seasons, and creative director Julia Nardin previously stated that Marathon's story arcs are planned out for years to come.

However, the project still faces serious challenges. Analysts doubt whether a relatively small but dedicated community can sustain the game in the long term.