Bungie wants you to play Marathon with other players, but is removing a feature that allows for plenty of interactions between players.
What is Marathon? Marathon is Bungie’s latest game, the development studio behind the loot shooter Destiny 2.
- Marathon is an extraction shooter (PvPvE) in the first-person perspective, set to be released on September 23, 2025, for PC and consoles.
- You play as a so-called Runner. These cybernetic mercenaries each have different abilities.
- During a run, you collect loot and complete missions to upgrade your Runner. There will also be some sort of ranked mode.
Bungie has stated that they place great emphasis on players playing together with others in Marathon. Accordingly, good teamwork is very valuable. Overall, the social aspect is supposed to play a significant role.
Marathon removes feature to communicate with strangers
Which feature is it? Marathon Game Director Joseph Ziegler revealed in an interview with the English magazine PCGamer that the shooter will not have proximity chat.
Proximity chat allows you to hear and talk to other players in online games who are in your vicinity on the map—even if they are not in the same squad.
Ziegler explains:
When it comes to proximity chat, I don’t think we are against the experience to be fair. I think the challenge is to create a safe environment for players within this space.
I don’t believe anyone has a good solution for that yet. As we are so focused on creating a safe space where players are not hurling insults at each other or doing terrible things to each other, I think we are not ready to invest in proximity chat until we have a solution.
Funny interactions and extreme toxicity
What is the problem with proximity chats? Proximity chats are always a double-edged sword. On one hand, they allow you to interact with strangers. You not only meet new people but also, hopefully, experience very funny situations. It also allows for a kind of roleplay when unfamiliar players negotiate a “truce” with each other.
On the other hand, proximity chats are often used to be toxic. In Call of Duty, for example, you regularly hear what strange “men” with distorted microphones would like to do with the mothers of their adversaries. Generally, these chats often serve as a mouthpiece for insults, intolerance, and discrimination.
Players often have to decide: do they risk hearing inappropriate statements and leave the proximity chat on, or do they turn it off directly, potentially missing out on funny interactions?
Players express confusion over the omission
What do players say about the missing feature? Many players cannot understand Bungie’s decision. Proximity chats are considered an important part of online shooters, which Marathon now lacks (via X):
- “A big mistake. Proximity chat can make encounters so much more fun.”
- “One of the best features of DMZ was the proximity chat. It was perfect for interaction and even for negotiations with other teams. I consider it a mistake.”
- “Proximity chat is such a cool feature for extraction shooters. It makes the game much more exciting and immersive when you have to watch not to reveal your position to the enemy.”
- “The lack of proximity chat will turn every interaction into a fight rather than talking and sometimes even collaborating.”
The most important argument for the availability of such a chat is the addition of an option to turn it off if you are not interested in the feature. Many comments state that this decision does not make the shooter more attractive to them. And Marathon was already met with rather lukewarm reception: “0% chance I’ll play it” – The new shooter from the creators of Destiny 2 faces a major problem
