The latest news has it that Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter Marathon has reached the top three most pre-ordered games on the PlayStation Store in major regions. Industry analyst Zuby_Tech has provided the information that early interest in the game is considerable despite the recent skepticism communicated through social media. The success at this stage means that the future game players are ready to be involved and invest before the game’s release in 2026.
The predominant online message is quite crazy, so let us not waste any time and get to the point straight away. Marathon, the game that has already been called “Concord 2.0,” “Dead on Arrival,” etc., is reportedly now in second place for US and Canada pre-orders at the PlayStation Store. It ranks third in the UK, France, Spain, Mexico, Australia, and many other countries where it is also gaining popularity. And the comments on that tweet? They are the perfect example of the pure, unfiltered, and chaotic situation that the internet can create. It is as if one were witnessing the battle between two very different worlds.
On the one side, the atmosphere is filled with anticipatory reception. KingGodsu quotes, “It’s gonna be huge.” The other one, Damien, indicates the irony: “But all I hear from detractors in reference is Concord 2.0, Dead Game, $40 for a live-service game, it has to be F2P or fail. PlayStation and Bungie are laughing at their faces.” And he is, in fact, right! The story on the internet has been predominantly negative, especially in certain weaving areas. The game’s obituary was made before any students saw it. Now, however, the game has climbed into the rankings, so the whole thing is an utter rethinking and confusion for many.
But then comes another dimension to the discussion… the opposing viewpoint. It would really be an example of shifting the goalposts. To some, the first reaction was not “huh, interesting” but rather an immediate downplay of the significance of this event. User V dispatched an all-time classic: “Getting into Top 3 is not hard when no one is releasing that has any form of attention. Lol.” Okay, that’s partly true, the release calendar is a bit bare, but still. Top 3 is top 3. Then, there is PGN_Tim, who connects Dragon Age: Veilguard’s pre-order success to Marathon’s potential downfall: “So was Dragon Age Veilguard. Not many games are about to release that I hope it is one of those cases, and it fails hard. woke trash!” So, by this reasoning, the fact that another game also had good pre-orders means this one will flop? And it’s also “woke trash”?
“Woke” is the term that appears most frequently in these replies, and almost it becomes like a catch-all boogeyman. Ronnie expresses disappointment that a “biased boycott won’t kill this game! Nothing woke! Nothing concord!” It’s quite curious how quickly the dialogues get dragged into the cultural war lanes, even in the case of a game like Marathon which, based on the little information we’ve got, is a sci-fi shooter about space mercenaries looting each other. The discussions about the game are simply… off the hook.
Then there is a kind of dialogue among SageofFire313 and a few other people. The latter is convinced that the game will not be successful, and thus, he asks: “Y’all can’t be that starved…” User ‘R’ shares the reason for such a negative attitude with the phrase: “Expecting, not hoping.” It is like a counterintuitive pessimism. On the other hand, RednewMaia, another user, supports Sage’s remark about the server being among the top 5 in Steam. The piling up of evidence against the doom-and-gloom crowd continues, and they are just like “whatever.” NextGenEmpire even goes as far as to provide a link along with the blunt comment: “Just remember, top seller means absolutely nothing.” The truth is that it does mean something – it means that people are living up to their words. The classic definition of something.
The funniest reaction, in my opinion, was that of GAMER_BOI_83, which perfectly illustrated utter bafflement: “What in the world is happening??? Didn’t this game already get a one-way ticket to hell and back? Did it get to roll in all the mud??? And now it’s the second one on pre-orders? No, I must see this unfold.” That’s a whole mood. A very true and honest reaction. The silent majority – the crowd that just sees a cool-looking Bungie shooter – have apparently, after months of noise, opened their wallets. And this is making the loudest voices in the room seem a little ridiculous.
