Marathon Sales Reveal It's "Ignored" by PS5 Players

According to a report by Alinea Analytics, Bungie’s extraction shooter, Marathon, has sold over 1.2 million copies across all platforms since its launch on March 5, generating over $55 million in revenue. However, the report indicates that PC accounts for the majority of sales, raising questions about the game's impact on PlayStation, despite Bungie being a PlayStation studio. Steam accounts for nearly 70% of Marathon's total player base, with approximately 800,000 copies sold. In contrast, Alinea Analytics estimates around 217,000 copies were sold on PlayStation 5, representing about 19% of total sales. An additional 133,000 copies were purchased on Xbox (including consoles and PC via the Microsoft Store), accounting for the remaining 11%. Alinea Analytics also notes that Marathon's sales have increased by 950,000 copies since its initial reporting, with Steam sales rising from 250,000 to 800,000 copies, and PlayStation 5 sales reaching 217,000. Analysts suggest that Sony's home console's struggle to surpass 20% of total sales volume is concerning, indicating that Sony's strategy of simultaneously releasing multiplayer live-service games on PC may be the only sustainable path for such projects.

The report also addresses the barrier to entry. While hardcore gamers praise Marathon’s design and gunplay, the game has struggled to attract new players due to its steep learning curve and challenging initial user experience. Arc Raiders features easy-to-understand cooperative mechanics within the first 30 minutes of gameplay. However, Marathon's lack of a well-defined tutorial, severe penalties for dying, and confusing interface create an insurmountable barrier for newcomers. The test periods demonstrated this: Arc Raiders' tests resulted in an immediate peak of 80% in preorders, while Marathon's demo only generated a modest increase of 49%, suggesting that initial contact with the game deterred many potential buyers. Despite these initial challenges and post-launch player drop-off, Marathon has found its niche, maintaining a solid average of 380,000 active daily players on weekends. On Steam, the average playtime already surpasses 27 hours, with 7% of the player base exceeding the 100-hour mark. The demographic profile of this dedicated player base reveals that approximately 78.2% of Marathon players on Steam have played Destiny 2, and 85.7% of players on Xbox have a history with Halo Infinite.

Sony and Bungie's Future Strategy: Recovery Plans for Marathon or Destiny 3 Development?

The report concludes by raising the question of Sony and Bungie's next move: whether the studio will focus on long-term recovery plans to make the game more accessible or shift resources towards the development of Destiny 3.

In Case You Missed It

In our last post, we explored the thrilling new strategies in Marathon's competitive mode, but a pressing concern has been brought to light by Carlos Mendoza's latest article 'Players Enraged Over Marathon's State: "We Lose Everything Due to Cheaters"' (published March 24, 2026). While we're excited about Razer's latest gaming peripherals, highlighted in Ahmed Hassan's piece published just yesterday, the cheating issue in Marathon is a serious one, particularly for PC players who lose valuable gear instantly due to aimbots and wallhacks. However, there's hope on the horizon with Bungie's recent patch, version 1.0.5.1, as Sophie Laurent's article "Marathon Gets Update to Fix Bugs and Improve Matchmaking" (published March 24, 2026) reveals. This update promises to smooth out rough edges in gameplay and interface alike, addressing exploitations like the infamous Thief class glitch and enhancing matchmaking stability. So while we're eager to upgrade our setups with Razer's Viper V4 Pro and Gigantus V2 Pro mice, let's also appreciate Bungie's commitment to keeping Marathon running smoothly, despite the current cheating concerns. Check out Carlos' article here Players Enraged Over Marathon's State: "We Lose Everything Due to Cheaters, Ahmed's piece here Razer Unveils Viper V4 Pro and Gigantus V2 Pro Mice for Competitive Edge, and Sophie's article here Marathon Gets Update to Fix Bugs and Improve Matchmaking for more insight into these exciting developments.