Sony / BungieMarathon received a mixed reception after its official reveal, with many labeling it “Concord 2.0.” Now, a former Firewalk dev who worked on the failed project has offered his support to Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter.
As the latest release from the Halo and Destiny developers, expectations were high going into Marathon’s gameplay reveal on April 12. However, the response was fairly divided, with many praising the sci-fi art style, while others felt that the moment-to-moment action might struggle to find a large audience.
On top of all that, there were also concerns about the game not being free-to-play and missing key features like proximity chat.
This led a number of fans to call Marathon dead on arrival, and even drew some comparisons to Concord, which was unceremoniously shut down after 10 days due to a lack of players. But a dev who worked on Sony’s now-defunct hero shooter has defended Bungie.
Former Firewalk dev defends Marathon after “Concord 2.0” comparisons
Following the gameplay reveal, Stephan Williams, an artist who contributed to Concord, posted on Reddit to share a bit of background about his experience on a project that didn’t work out.
“Many players know about Concord, and what happened with that project. Concord failed to inspire players, and the message was heard loud and clear,” he explained. “It was gut-wrenching to see our project fail, and be the laughing stock of many online.”
“No one feels as bad as the people who put their time on the line, hoping it will entertain the masses of gamers across the globe.”
BungieHe went on to praise Bungie for stepping out of their comfort zone and said their clear passion in the project should give players hope that it will be a success.
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“I commend them for taking a chance, trying something foreign to them, that isn’t proven, nor guaranteed to succeed. It takes a lot of courage,” he continued. “We came up short, please don’t punish others for our mistakes. We are all human beings who are trying to create something special, and Marathon is no different. Be kind, and be cool, as video games are meant to be fun.”
In the comments, the dev then began responding to comments, where he admitted he was surprised to see so many players declaring Marathon dead so early.
“I really didn’t want to be ‘that’ dev, calling attention to myself as if I have a horse in this fight. But to call this game a failure before it’s even out, is wild to me,” Williams said in one reply.
Ultimately, the jury is still out on Marathon until it’s in players’ hands on September 23. But if you want to try it out early, check out how to access the Closed Alpha Test on April 23.