Marathon, the new extraction shooter from Bungie, is set to provide pre-made heroes instead of individual protagonists. For many fans of Destiny 2, this is unacceptable, but an insider now explains why Bungie has made this decision and what you can expect.
What is the deal with the heroes? When Christopher Barrett was still the game director of Marathon, Bungie wanted to provide individual characters for the extraction shooter – so you could have created your heroes as in Destiny 1 & 2.
However, when Christopher was replaced by Joe Ziegler at Bungie and the former game director of Valorant was now in charge, the developers shifted direction. According to insiders, pre-made heroes are now the new goal. This has caused discontent among Destiny 2 fans, as many players were interested in testing a new game from Bungie, but with an individual character rather than a hero.
According to new information, there are now deeper insights into the development of Marathon. An insider is speaking frankly about what is going on with the heroes and why Bungie might have made this decision.
An option for monetization
What does the insider say? The insider oopsleaks has clarified several things regarding Marathon and its development on X. According to him, there will be four runner classes:
- SIGINT
- HUMINT
- FLDENG
- SPECOP
These differ in their gameplay and can be customized. According to him, the four hero classes hold the solution for the monetization problem. Previously, insiders had reported that Marathon is supposed to be a free-to-play game (via Reddit).
However, for Bungie to finance its game in the long term, cosmetic content is supposed to be offered so players can customize their heroes.
Since in an extraction shooter gear and weapons are constantly swapped out for better items, it is hard to monetize these, and since Bungie wants to avoid pay-to-win options, these cosmetics are supposed to generate income.
What else is known? According to the insider, Bungie is also focusing on a player base that is solo or in trio. There will be no duo.
Regarding the loot, don’t expect millions of items to collect. It is meant to remain manageable and should remind you of Hunt Showdown. Weapons are supposed to be important in Marathon, and therefore you can extensively customize and tinker with them. Scopes, barrels, stocks, or magazines can be customized, and you can trade in shops to earn money.
Oopsleaks believes Marathon is the best IP to turn into an extraction shooter. It remains to be seen when Bungie will officially announce things about Marathon, but until then, fans will have to settle for leaks and insider information. More about Destiny 2 can be found here: Destiny is celebrating its 10th anniversary tomorrow – There are free armors, titles, and info about the future of Destiny 2
