Concord should have been Sony’s new shooter that impresses everyone, but two weeks after release, it was shut down – a catastrophic flop. However, Sony still has an ace up its sleeve when it comes to shooters, with Bungie and Marathon. But even for them, things might not look good.
Why did Concord flop? There are many reasons why the hero shooter Concord failed to excite. Fans are hitting the “go woke, go broke” narrative and claim that diversity and overweight characters brought about its downfall. However, experts see a completely different problem: the well-known titles that have already established themselves in this genre and built their communities.
Overwatch and Valorant can shine with years of experience and offer their own universe. In contrast, Concord did not provide new players with an innovative reason to prefer the game over other brand giants. The result: The matchmaking ceased to function because far too few fans were playing.
Sony announced it would take Concord offline and refund the fans’ money. Although Concord and Marathon from Bungie cover two different genres, parallels can now be drawn that might point to a disaster.
A game for a community that wouldn’t touch Marathon like this
Why is Marathon in danger? Bungie is reviving its old brand “Marathon” as an extraction shooter. Initially, everything seemed good for the studio’s project, but further developments at Bungie and shifts in direction are now painting a different picture.
Marathon was first supposed to be an extraction shooter where players could create their own characters. However, this idea was discarded. After Joe Ziegler, the former game director of Valorant, joined Bungie, he took on the role of game director for Marathon.
His idea led to Marathon now being designed as a hero extraction shooter. You will choose selected heroes for your missions and cannot create your own. For many Bungie and Destiny fans, this is unacceptable.
Additionally, selected players have been allowed to play a few rounds of Marathon, as their experience in extraction shooters like Escape from Tarkov could provide informed opinions and feedback. The result: very few were impressed by Marathon.
Furthermore, considering the plan Bungie is pursuing, the release of Marathon could end in catastrophe. Extraction shooters are a niche genre in the gaming scene. Such games are tough, punish you when you lose, and require high skills.
Looking at the current target audience of Destiny, it is evident that Bungie addresses a broad mass of casuals and professionals who enjoy shooters – with Marathon, the majority of casual gamers are likely to drop out because they find such games far too hard.
Finally, there is also the immense competition against Marathon, which has shaped the genre with its titles. Marathon would be competing against Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown, and it would be like Outriders competing against Destiny 2.
Even if Marathon brings its heroes into the game, it will be hard to compete against established brands in the genre. It remains to be seen what Bungie has come up with, but if it’s not something that blows the fans away, the extraction shooter might meet the same fate as Concord. More on Destiny can be found here: A new game for Destiny is said to be in the works, but you’re not going to like it
