Bungie denies rumors of Marathon and Destiny merger

Marathon creative director and Bungie veteran Julia Nardin took to X to confirm that the rumors about merging the two franchises are fake. While acknowledging that both series share much of the same Bungie DNA, she emphasized that they are independent entities, much like siblings. Nardin urged fans not to believe everything they read online.

The leaks, which originated on 4Chan and were later compiled on Reddit, suggested that Bungie was testing the waters to merge the universes, positioning Marathon as a precursor to the Golden Age and a way to foreshadow threats for future Destiny projects. The rumors also claimed that several former Destiny 2 developers were rehired to bring ideas from cancelled expansions and a potential sequel into Marathon. Bungie, however, did not address these specific claims or other details from the leak.

Other parts of the leak touched on gameplay mechanics, suggesting Marathon would borrow faction and reputation systems from the first Destiny game, as well as social spaces. There were also claims that players could earn in-game rewards for completing certain Triumphs in Destiny 2 to encourage them to try Marathon. Additionally, the leak mentioned that Marathon would transition to a free-to-play model in December, which supposedly caused the delay of the upcoming PvE mode, Investigations—described as a blend of Monster Hunter and Splatoon's Salmon Run.

Currently, Marathon faces a challenging market position, with estimated launch sales of 1.2 million copies and a declining player count on Steam, where concurrent users have recently dipped below 3,000.