Tom Henderson of Insider-Gaming, citing unnamed sources, claims that the creator of Halo and Destiny, Bungie, is now working on reviving its Marathon franchise as a cooperative extraction shooter. Originally developed exclusively for macOS and released in 1994, the first Marathon game received two sequels, Durandal and Infinity, and turned into a cult classic over the course of the next two decades.
Bungie celebrated certain bits and pieces of Marathon's aesthetic with the release of the 30th Anniversary content pack for Destiny 2, though it's also worth pointing out that some of Destiny's own lore references specific aspects of Marathon, drawing curious parallels between the two IPs. All three Marathon games are now available for free as open-source releases, with there having been no signs of Bungie doing anything with the IP up until now.
According to anonymous sources, Bungie may be working on an extraction shooter set in the Marathon universe. Though Marathon got a number of throwbacks as part of Destiny 2's 30th Anniversary DLC, that may not be the last the community has seen of the IP, as sources claim that Bungie now has its own Escape From Tarkov competitor in the pre-alpha state. The game would apparently be a live-service offering, with fireteams of up to three "Runner" cyborgs scouring an undisclosed planet for loot after the local human colony vanished into thin air. Customization would apparently be a major draw, and sources claim that this new Marathon title would be the "ultimate example of a living game."
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Though it may appear that this piece of news comes out of the blue, it's certainly not entirely unprecedented, Namely, Sony aims to release 10 live-service games over the course of the next couple of years, and the media giant specifically acquired Bungie for its expertise in this particular industry niche. An all-new live-service Marathon game would certainly fit the bill in this respect, and Bungie is known to be working on several games other than Destiny 2 at this point.
Furthermore, while Sony's acquisition of Bungie went through without any problems, Bungie did say that it's going to continue launching multi-platform games in the future. If the Marathon project is, indeed, currently in active development, then it's entirely possible that it's not a PlayStation exclusive after all. Though, at the same time, chances are that it wouldn't launch on Xbox consoles anytime soon.
Some felt that Bungie could develop a new Killzone or Resistance game, but it doesn't seem very likely that the studio would work on existing IPs. The notion of Bungie working to revive and modernize its very first franchise, however, seems more feasible at this time, but until these sources are corroborated with more information, fans should keep a pinch of salt at hand just in case.
The Marathon trilogy is available on PC, macOS, and Linux platforms via the Aleph One port.
Source: Insider Gaming