Bungie Asks Destiny Fans Not to Buy Marathon Just as a Donation
Two cakes. One community.
Bungie has a message for Destiny fans who want to help the studio: please don't buy Marathon if you don't actually want to play it. Head of product Josh Deane cleared that up after a community post left a lot of players confused about how the two games are connected (IGN).
"Oh, don't buy Marathon as a donation or offer anything else," Deane told one worried fan. "It's our job to show up for you."
Here's the official trailer for Destiny 2: The Collection.
Why were Destiny fans worried?
Deane posted a long Q&A this week about bringing back vaulted Destiny 2 content, which we covered in our unvaulting plan story. One section said that "nothing can help bridge us into future more than for Marathon to rapidly evolve and become sustainable," and it asked players to support the team heading into Marathon's December and March updates (IGN).
After months of uncertainty around Destiny 2, a lot of fans read that as a hint that buying Marathon would keep Destiny alive. (Nobody wants to pay for a game as a hostage fee.)
What did Bungie actually say?
Deane said he worded the post badly and called it "a mistranslation, and that's on me." He was clear that "in no way is the Destiny plan contingent upon Marathon" and that "the Destiny plan moves forward no matter what" (IGN). He told fans to play whatever inspires them.
Bungie's principal comms manager Dylan Gafner summed it up more simply: "Two cakes! One big community."
What's next for Destiny and Marathon?
Bungie released its final major content update for Destiny 2 earlier this year. Since then, the studio has promised to bring back vaulted campaigns, raids and locations, and IGN says it's also working on celebration updates, a project teased as "Destiny Legacy," and a mysterious "redacted" project. No Destiny 3 has been announced.
Marathon's next big update, Symbiosis, arrives in December, with more changes planned for March. Bungie has said it's experimenting with PvE and Deathmatch modes, while extraction stays a major part of the game.
My read is that this was the right call, and Deane deserves credit for saying it plainly. Destiny fans have been through a lot this year, and the last thing they needed was to feel like their favorite game depended on buying a different one. Two healthy games with two happy communities is a much better plan than guilt-tripping anyone.
More gaming news is right here.
Images are official screenshots from Destiny 2 and Marathon, from Bungie.
