Marathon On Sale For The First Time Amid Free

Key Points:

• Marathon, Bungie’s extraction shooter, has been on sale for just over six weeks and is now discounted by 20% on Xbox Series X/S, where it has sold significantly fewer copies compared to PlayStation 5 and Steam.
• Xbox sales account for only about 10% of total sales, with around 130,000 copies sold in the first month, and user reviews on Xbox are much lower than on other platforms.
• Player engagement appears to be declining, as indicated by decreasing concurrent player numbers on Steam and longer matchmaking queue times, raising concerns about the game's long-term health.
• Fans suggest making the popular "free kit" mode free-to-play to attract new players, while Bungie is weighing strategies like free weekends or maintaining the current premium pricing with limited microtransactions.
• Bungie emphasizes ongoing seasonal content without raising the box price, but must find ways to boost player numbers and momentum, especially ahead of season 2, to avoid player burnout and sustain interest.