Sony apparently won’t be seeing green for Marathon any time soon, despite a somewhat successful launch a few weeks ago. Everyone knows that game development costs go up significantly every time there’s a delay leading to a pushed-back release, and it can get even worse if legal complications should arise to further exacerbate things. Such is the story of Marathon’s path to release after multiple missed targets, but then early reports indicate it had potentially used art assets without permission. In the end, everything worked out, and the game was launched on March 5.
New details have emerged regarding the costs involved in getting the game out, and according to Paul Tassi (Forbes), the current tally may be in the area of $250 million. This total, as extravagant as it may be, is not the end, since with any live service game, there are continuing operations to support the game. However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the game, as it was confirmed to have managed to earn roughly $50 million at release, and undisclosed revenue from in-game purchases could mean a much higher total.
Marathon now sits with an 88% positive review score on Steam, where, reportedly, roughly 70% of its sales have occurred. An 82 Metacritic score from PS5 owners, along with ratings of 9 or higher from a number of media outlets, shows a consistent positive review standing from both players and game review journalists. A recent report states that around 1.2 million copies had been sold across all platforms, which isn’t a bad start for a title that goes for $40 (base) and $60 (Deluxe). Player counts have been between 300,000 and upwards of half a million, but it’s still too early to say how long it can retain those numbers, but still, not too shabby. If Bungie can continue to add content that retains these player counts its possible the game will eventually reach a profitability level, but that could still be a long road ahead.