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Marathon Server Slam CCU Watch

Yup absolutely needs a proper tutorial mode.

Everyone in the tests said the same and we were the hardcore that was already on board.

That said I do like it how the game just doesn't give a fuck and justs chucks you in at the deep end and repeatedly kills you from the off. Not the best way to sell your game though.
Maybe it's fine for PvP or at least hardcore PvP/extraction shooter players, but feels too hardcore for me. With some patience is perfectly ok, but I assume many people will leave it because didn't know many things.

I think it has a great tutorial, but would be nice if it would be longer to show other basic things, like what each button press does (both single press and keeping pressed) because many people won't know many things exist. Same goes with the special abilities and differences between the different shells, because most people will just pick their favorite based on looks and won't know that they got stuck in a mission that is way easier with another shell.

They could do it without a traditional tutorial, but instead just with adding as first missions to play x times with certain character and use x times each skill briefly explaining pros and cons of the character.

I also saw that at least in this free weekend demo apparently the matchmaking doesn't care about the level of the players, and I think it should prioritize to match all the players in a map having the same or similar level.

Small tweaks that would make the game way more appealing to many people more, while the game still wouldn't lose its hardcore vibe.
 
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Is it niche though?

Can you name 5 genres that are more popular than Extraction today?
Yes, fair enough for PC. But not for console.

I think it's more that Bungie are, for better or worse, near the very summit of developers. Their games should be as inviting as possible to encourage millions of sales and hundreds of thousands of players.

Destiny, at its best, catered to all audiences. A casual player (like me) got 100s of hours levelling, collecting guns, running strikes and playing crucible. And then there was an entirely different world of dungeon and raid players, alongside competitive pvp, that essentially offered a different game. I absolutely *hate* the word, as it's corporate bullshit, but they managed to design an 'ecosystem' that catered for a variety of gamers.

Marathon does not feel like it shares that design philosophy. I was hoping for an extraction shooter that offered a playstyle that could, for a bum like me, be effectively pve. A little like a patrol zone in Destiny 2, where you just run around, shoot stuff and grind out experience / loot. PvP could be easily avoided whilst maintaining lots of stuff to do. This feels like full on extraction sweatiness.

As I say, for fans of the genre, it might be perfect. But I'm surprised that a developer that has a vested interest in welcoming as many players as possible (especially on console) has created such a high barrier of entry to enjoy their title.
 
We'll see.

It's just strange to hear people call the genre niche when it's probably one of the biggest genres in games right now.
I suppose, I said this before but do you think if they went more Destiny in art direction it would be better received than it is now with everything else being the same? I'm just interested hearing from a fan of the game why they think it's not getting big numbers? As I believe it's a lot to do with how it looks.
 
do you think if they went more Destiny in art direction it would be better received than it is now with everything else being the same? I
I suspect it would just annoy Destiny fans that were hoping for more Destiny.

I admire how bold they have been with their design choices. I just don't like them.
 
First 5 - 10 hours will shed a lot of players. After that, GOTY.
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I suppose, I said this before but do you think if they went more Destiny in art direction it would be better received than it is now with everything else being the same?
I don't think multi-player gamers care about art style at all. When I talk to randoms in game, the topic of graphics or style basically never comes up. Replayability and depth are at the forefront of multi-player.
I'm just interested hearing from a fan of the game why they think it's not getting big numbers? As I believe it's a lot to do with how it looks.
Steep learning curve in the beginning + brain rot gamers + everything gets wiped in 2 days. I'm not worried about it. I see it as a surefire hit.
 
I don't think multi-player gamers care about art style at all. When I talk to randoms in game, the topic of graphics or style basically never comes up. Replayability and depth are at the forefront of multi-player.

Steep learning curve in the beginning + brain rot gamers + everything gets wiped in 2 days. I'm not worried about it. I see it as a surefire hit.
Even Steam Player counts have flattened since yesterday. The struggle bus is just extremely real for the beginning of the game to an absolute brutal degree. It is not very enjoyable to play with a character starting at zero with usually shit weapons
 
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North of 30k on Steam. On-boarding is a lot worse than I imagined but again...this game will retain. I think this will hit its floor relatively quickly.
I think it might stabilize with same numbers as PAYDAY2.

And with base of 15K-30K and how bungie learned squeezing with Eververse store (with D2 ~100K players), I think they could get in the green. Don't know mtx behavior comparison between PvP and PvE groups though.
 
I suspect it would just annoy Destiny fans that were hoping for more Destiny.

I admire how bold they have been with their design choices. I just don't like them.
I am so excited to see what comes next. Marathon 100% not gonna out gross Destiny launch months/years. Even considering the team size and budgets behind each, Marathon is not proving to be Destiny's replacement (financially), which has been consistently been in Top12 revenue earner for a decade on Steam.

Where do they go from here. Downsize and keep making D2 content (avg ~20K players), or go all in again and spend 5 years making Destiny 3.
 
I think it might stabilize with same numbers as PAYDAY2.

And with base of 15K-30K and how bungie learned squeezing with Eververse store (with D2 ~100K players), I think they could get in the green. Don't know mtx behavior comparison between PvP and PvE groups though.
Maybe at their prime
 
The game may find its audience, but anyone thinking this is going to be the next big thing, which it absolutely needs to be, is kidding themselves.
 
The expectations were for Marathon to be one of the 5 biggest games of the year

Safe to say it already failed

I'd be genuinely shocked if it made it into the top 20, let alone the top 5.

EDIT: The more I think about it the more comical it becomes. Let's look at some of the big games of 2026: GTA6, RE9, Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis, Forza Horizon 6, Crimson Desert, Control Resonant, Tides of Annihilation, Phantom Blade 0, 007: First Light, Wolverine, some kind of COD game and whatever Nintendo churns out in 2026. And so you think your game will be in the Top 5 while competing against these games? I mean you have to believe it, otherwise wouldn't you be purposely setting yourself up for failure?
 
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My predictions: today's server slam CCU peak will not be topped (even in the weekend), retail launch 50% of server slam CCU peak, and then a gradual drop to 50% of that peak after the first month.

This is not going to pull in the PC/extraction crowd.

Right on the money with my early, first prediction.

Dropping CCU peaks and lows after day 1 was exactly what I was expecting:
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I tried the game, to put it mildly it isn't for me. I don't think even the genre is, for which this game was my first introduction to. It does a very poor job of explaining core mechanics and what the genre is to a newcomer, such as myself, which bodes very badly for the general public and their sales expectations.

Let me put it this way, I didn't know (prior or while playing) that this game was PvP primarily, I thought it was just an incredibly boring PvE game where you barely encounter any enemies. Instead, it is even worse, because you play against sweaty other people who are hiding and then pop out to kill you in a huge map. Incredibly riveting, for some people, but not for me. And again, I didn't even know it was PvP, they have humanoid PvE enemies thrown in which look the same as the PvP players.

That's not even getting to the esoteric UI and 'objectives', braindead boring environments (Empty offices? Forever? That is a choice) and lack of any hook. I actually even like the stolen artstyle (I know they made up with the artist), but its used to service hallways almost exclusively..

Seems like people within Bungie might want to start updating their resumes tbh, I can very much see why the player count is trending down. I tried it, would never try again unless the entire game was reworked, but don't bother.
 
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Marathon wasn't for me, never started it again after my first evening and cancelled the preorder.

But, I don't see the numbers of the test as bad? I mean, if I was intent on playing and I knew there was a wipe..well I would probably be playing it anyway but I assume many feel different.

It is a new game, even if you don't find it to be your style how the hell can you actively dislike it? It is just not for you. I hope all marathon lovers have a long and great affair with this.
 
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So I installed it.

Uninstalled less than 30 seconds into the tutorial.

I haven't seen mouse input that bad since the skyrim days.

Not hard to understand the flat lined CCU.
 
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