Marathon
GameBy Bungie
Documents about Marathon
Top-Grossing First-Party Games: 2026
This analysis provides a performance overview of top-grossing first-party titles from Sony and Microsoft for 2026, utilizing proprietary estimates across Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.
- Xbox’s Forza Horizon 6 is the top-grossing first-party title, generating $579.2M in revenue from 8.8M copies sold, with 56.7% of revenue coming from Xbox platforms.
- PlayStation’s Wolverine generated $192.9M in revenue from 2.5M copies sold since its launch one month ago, maintaining a high player rating of 4.7/5 despite critical reception.
- MLB The Show 26 generated $192.7M in revenue, a 23% increase over the previous installment, with Xbox accounting for 48% of total revenue due to a strategy of transitioning former Game Pass users to full-price purchases.
Marathon Player Count Has Fallen 96% Since Launch, Leaving Bungie With a Make-or-Break Season 3
Bungie is currently navigating a critical juncture for its extraction shooter, Marathon, which has faced a precipitous decline in user engagement since its initial release.
- Bungie's Marathon has experienced a 96% decline in concurrent Steam players since its March 5, 2026, launch, with the daily peak falling from 88,337 to 3,507.
- Despite an estimated 1.5 million copies sold across all platforms by late March 2026, the game's average concurrent player count on Steam dropped from 38,290 in March to 4,755 in July.
- Season 3 is considered a critical 'make-or-break' period for the title, as Bungie must attempt to stabilize and rebuild a player base that has seen non-peak concurrent counts fall as low as 1,125.
Bungie Once Had Up to Six Games in Development
Following its 2022 acquisition by Sony for $3.6 billion, Bungie initiated an ambitious expansion strategy that saw the studio juggling up to six concurrent development projects.
- Bungie had five to six distinct projects in development simultaneously, but the majority of these initiatives collapsed following Sony’s $3.6 billion acquisition of the studio.
- Bungie concluded live-service content updates for Destiny 2 on June 9, 2026, followed by significant layoffs on June 25, 2026, that impacted both the Destiny and Marathon development teams.
- Several high-profile projects were canceled during this period, including the new IP 'Matter' (2020), 'Project Sunspot' (2023), and the third-person Destiny spin-off 'Project Payback' (2024).
It's Xbox's Turn (Again), as Console Prices Keep Going Up
Microsoft’s latest price hike for the Xbox Series S and X, effective August 1, marks the third adjustment in just over a year.
- Microsoft announced a third price hike in just over a year for Xbox Series consoles, effective August 1, 2026, raising the Xbox Series S from $300 to $500 and the Xbox Series X from $500 to $800.
- This Xbox price increase follows similar actions by Sony for PlayStation 5 consoles in Spring 2026 and a "slow-motion increase" for Nintendo's Switch 2 starting September 2026, indicating a broader industry trend of rising console prices.
- Console prices, which historically decreased over a generation, have surged over the past year, with eight video game industry price hikes occurring in six months of 2025 alone.
September's Packed Schedule
September’s release calendar is densely packed, with a cluster of high-profile titles slated for mid-to-late September across multiple platforms.
- The U.S. gaming market grew to 212.3 million players in 2026, an increase from 205.1 million the previous year.
- September features a highly competitive release calendar, with major titles like Marvel’s Wolverine (Sept 15), Dune Awakening (Sept 22), and a cluster of releases on Sept 24, including Silent Hill Townfall and Dragon Quest XI S, strategically scheduled to avoid the November launch of Grand Theft Auto VI.
- The Tokyo Game Show (Sept 17–22) is driving a surge in Japanese software releases, with multiple titles from publishers like Konami, Capcom, and Square Enix launching immediately following the event.
New Report Explains Why Bungie Never Started Working on Destiny 3 After The Final Shape
The article explains why Bungie has not begun development on a Destiny 3 following the conclusion of Destiny 2’s live-service cycle.
- Bungie will cease active development on Destiny 2 following the launch of the final major update, Monument of Triumph, on 9 June 2026.
- Destiny 3 is neither greenlit nor in production, and Sony Interactive Entertainment has not approved any other new projects within the Destiny franchise.
- Sony is exercising financial caution regarding a potential Destiny 3 due to the high costs and risks associated with developing large-scale MMOFPS titles in a volatile market.
Meet Wolfjaw: A Quietly Important Video Game Company
Wolfjaw Studios, headquartered in Troy, New York, positions itself as a pivotal yet low-profile partner for major game publishers by providing essential backend infrastructure rather than developing games outright.
- Wolfjaw Studios specializes in critical backend infrastructure for major titles, including Bungie’s Destiny 2 and Marathon, Innersloth’s Among Us, Tencent’s Transformers: Reactivate, and the NBA 2K series.
- The company provides essential technical services such as online account management, in-game shop functionality, cross-platform inventory synchronization, and real-time voice chat stability.
- Wolfjaw maintains a diverse client roster that spans major industry players including Sony PlayStation, Riot Games, Wizards of the Coast, Take-Two Interactive, and Krafton.
Games and Numbers: April 7 - April 21, 2026
This bi-weekly industry update provides a comprehensive overview of performance milestones for PC, console, and mobile titles between April 7 and April 21, 2026.
- Konami’s eFootball has reached a major mobile milestone, surpassing 1 billion total downloads.
- Hazelight Studios has achieved a cumulative sales milestone of 50 million units across its entire portfolio.
- Bungie’s Marathon generated $55 million in its first three weeks against a reported development budget of $200 million to $250 million.
Games and Numbers: March 25 - April 6, 2026
This bi-weekly industry update provides a snapshot of commercial milestones achieved by various PC, console, and virtual reality titles between March 25 and April 6, 2026.
- Crimson Desert achieved 4 million copies sold within 13 days of its launch.
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach surpassed 2 million units sold, generating over $150 million in revenue.
- Sandbox VR reached $300 million in cumulative lifetime revenue across 80 global locations, maintaining 150,000 monthly active users.
March's Top New PC/Console Games; Steam's Wishlist Email Changes
This analysis examines the performance of major PC and console game releases during March 2026, while providing technical context regarding recent updates to Steam’s wishlist notification reporting.
- Slay The Spire 2 led March 2026 PC sales with over 5 million units sold and $110 million in gross revenue.
- Pokémon Pokopia drove a 154% month-on-month sales increase for the Nintendo Switch in the UK, selling 2.2 million units in its first four days.
- Crimson Desert achieved over 3 million units sold across PC and console platforms, while Marathon reached 1.3 million lifetime units.
Marathon Has Sold 1.2M Copies Across Steam, PS5, and Xbox
Marathon has generated approximately $55 million in gross revenue, driven by 1.2 million copies sold across Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox.
- Bungie's Marathon has generated $55 million in gross revenue from 1.2 million copies sold across Steam, PS5, and Xbox.
- The game currently maintains a daily active user (DAU) count of 345,000, following a peak of 478,000 on its first Saturday.
- Steam is the primary platform for the title, with players averaging 27.8 hours of playtime compared to 16.5 hours on PS5 and 17.3 hours on Xbox.
Games and Numbers: February 25 - March 11, 2026
This bi-weekly industry update provides a snapshot of performance milestones and engagement metrics for major PC and console titles between February 25 and March 11, 2026.
- Resident Evil Requiem set a series record by selling 5 million copies in less than one week.
- Slay the Spire 2 achieved a strong Early Access launch on Steam, peaking at over 574,000 concurrent players.
- Crimson Desert saw a 50% increase in interest over one month, growing from 2 million to 3 million wishlists ahead of its March 19 release.
Companies behind it
As the documents state it.