Top 3 on Steam's Best Sellers list, with 150,000 concurrent players during beta—but this new AAA title is walking on thin ice.

On February 27, Bungie’s new game *Lost Star Ship: Marathon* (hereinafter referred to as *Marathon*) launched a free “server stress test.” While everyone has been buzzing about how handsome Leon looks in *Resident Evil 9* these past few days, quite a few people—including yours truly—chose to check out this new title that Bungie has been developing for a decade.

After all, everyone’s expectations for Bungie are sky-high. In previous public demonstrations, *The Marathon* turned heads with its unique acid-tinged sci-fi aesthetic. Given that Bungie is one of the “godfathers of Western FPS” who has twice revolutionized Western FPS development with the *Halo* and *Destiny* series, everyone expects that by entering the highly coveted looter-shooter genre, they’re bound to bring something truly exciting to the table, right?

On the other hand, *Marathon* underwent a "indefinite delay" and was sent back for a complete overhaul in the middle of last year, followed by news of an "art plagiarism scandal" and the departure of its lead creative director. Combined with Bungie's lackluster updates for *Destiny 2* in recent years and the Year 8 content that left longtime *Destiny* players feeling "collectively let down," these warning signs have left many players feeling uneasy.

Here’s how things actually played out after launch: Within just a few hours, *Marathon*’s peak concurrent players on Steam surged to 140,000, and the game’s pre-orders climbed to the Top 3 on Steam’s Best Sellers chart. However, on the following second and third days—despite it being the weekend—Steam’s concurrent player count quickly plummeted by half.The game currently holds a 3/5 rating on the PlayStation Store, and feedback on social media has become polarized—and this is despite the fact that the beta was free to play.

For example, blogger Luke Stephens bluntly stated, “I don’t think *Marathon* is worth $40,” and then spent half an hour breaking it down in detail, pointing out issues such as a cluttered UI and a poor single-player experience during his playthrough.

Meanwhile, Aztecross, a die-hard fan of *Destiny*, expressed “cautious optimism.” While he greatly enjoys the game’s combat experience, he also believes that many of its shortcomings are hard to overlook. This caution actually reflects the views of many players who have a positive outlook on *Marathon*—they may be on the same wavelength as the game, but they also have a premonition that its popularity will continue to wane after launch.

So what exactly did *Marathon* do wrong? To put it simply: in an era that emphasizes well-rounded development in morality, intellect, physical fitness, and aesthetics, Bungie ended up being a student who severely neglected certain subjects.

01

An Unbalanced Triangle

Let’s start with the game’s overall gameplay framework. When it comes to the three core elements—search, fight, and retreat—*Marathon* doesn’t offer many original designs, but what sets it apart is that it maximizes the “fight” element through resource management and shooting mechanics that bridge the gap between the in-game and out-of-game worlds.

If you’re a “hoarder” type of player like me, and you start a solo run with a free loadout as usual, your gaming experience will likely go something like this: As soon as you enter Skyhold 5, you’ll first marvel at the high-contrast, stylized art style, only to realize that danger lurks everywhere—you’ll try to enter a building to loot, only to find AI enemies patrolling all around.

These AI enemies can all teleport around and have impressive health pools, making them a real headache. After carefully maneuvering the elite boss—who’s equipped with an energy shield—for ages and emptying several magazines before finally defeating it, your ammo supply is completely depleted.

Image source: Bilibili creator "Elbow Strike King Fasi Liu Manager"

You looted all the supplies from the enemy’s crates and house, only to discover to your dismay that there were almost no medical supplies or ammunition. You dodged turrets that locked onto you and opened fire every few dozen meters, but then accidentally stepped on a plant by the roadside, leaving you poisoned for dozens of seconds. After searching your backpack thoroughly and finding no antidote, you could only watch helplessly as your character’s health bar slowly drained until you collapsed on the map.

When I got back to the warehouse, I realized the game didn’t have any “safe deposit boxes” at all?! After failing to evacuate several times in a row—and spending ages looting—my warehouse stock hadn’t increased one bit. I was absolutely frustrated.

According to a recent interview with the developers, the high difficulty of the Human vs. Machine mode was intentional on Bungie’s part—they wanted to create an atmosphere where danger lurks at every turn throughout the entire Skyhold.

This is the core experience of *Marathon*. The game’s evacuation requirements are quite lenient, with new evacuation points opening every few minutes; however, the AI enemies on the map are extremely powerful, making it easy to find yourself in a desperate situation when facing them alone. At the same time, *Marathon* maintains an extremely low drop rate for in-map loot. Not only does it completely lack the thrill of “scoring a big drop” found in other loot-and-escape games, but defeating high-difficulty AI enemies also offers little in the way of rewards.

In fact, due to the low drop rate on the map, players in the early game primarily rely on completing contract missions for the game’s six major factions to obtain supplies such as weapons and armor. These contract missions often require players to trek long distances across the map and overcome threats from AI and other players before they can be completed.Even when entering the map in a three-player squad, you still need to spend points to purchase large quantities of ammunition, consumables, and high-value gear to face these threats—which traps you in a vicious cycle of resource consumption.

There's only one answer: "Fight!" Take out the other players, and their gear will be yours, right?

After giving it a try, a friend of mine who’s a pro at FPS games summed it up this way: he thinks the best way to approach *Marathon* right now is to treat it like *Apex Legends* with a “search, fight, loot” twist. First, gear up and enter the map; when you hear gunfire, treat it like the bell signaling lunch in the cafeteria—charge in to fight, then loot your enemies’ gear. That way, you’re guaranteed to “score a win.”

When I asked him, “That’s way too risky—how are we supposed to complete the faction contract quest then?” he gave me a wink, his eyes full of confusion: “All you have to do is clear the map (defeat all the other players), and then you can safely complete the quest, right?” This left me at a loss for words.

For a search-and-battle game, when the riskiest strategy—"all-out attack"—actually becomes the safest option, the game environment may still be too challenging for most casual players.

02

A Dulled Gem

In fact, based on Tea House’s observations, among all types of players, PvP players have indeed given *Marathon* relatively better feedback. This is because Bungie has incorporated many standout features into its combat design—the signature *Destiny*-style shooting mechanics, which are classic yet effective; and the unique weapon skins, which are truly one-of-a-kind. These fundamental skills, honed by Bungie over the years, remain as solid as ever.

In addition, *Marathon* features a comprehensive weapon customization system—primary weapons in the game have component slots, and in the current version, Bungie has included over 400 weapon customization components, many of which grant special abilities. For example, defeating a single AI enemy can instantly hack all nearby AI enemies, reducing the pressure of firefights; or generating a gun shield that explodes upon killing an enemy, and so on.

Of course, the game also offers seven different operatives, each with their own unique skills, bringing heart-pounding real-time gameplay to the battlefield.

These modules and Operators can be combined to create synergistic effects, and they can also be coordinated with the player’s faction upgrade skills to build out skill builds—much like the game’s six major factions, each of which has its own talent tree. By investing points and completing faction missions, players can unlock permanent skin-specific abilities and stat upgrades outside of matches, as well as gain access to high-value items for purchase.

This, however, creates an awkward situation. Although there is theoretical freedom in building loadouts, since the game does not allow players to freely purchase all items and lacks a safe deposit box system, some rare and useful gun attachments are permanently lost upon death. This undoubtedly hinders players’ ability to create highly customized loadouts. Not to mention, the joy of experimenting with different loadouts often only becomes apparent after players have spent a significant amount of time in the game.

I can sense that, beyond initiatives like the BD system, *Marathon* is actually exploring innovation across many different dimensions. For example, according to recent leaks, once players reach a certain level, the game will unlock an endgame zone and gameplay mode. This mode may resemble a high-difficulty PVE dungeon, featuring multiple consecutive stages and offering generous rewards.

On the other hand, the game’s current steep learning curve makes it difficult for most players to stay motivated until they discover the core appeal of “marathon-style” gameplay—such as building class-specific gear setups and tackling PVE dungeons.

These factors, along with the trends in Steam concurrent users during the beta period, suggest that as the game enters its official launch, *Marathon* may be heading down a path toward becoming a "niche" title. For a AAA title that targets a popular genre and has required a massive investment in development, this may not be an ideal outcome.

03

The Halftime of the New Generation of FPS Games

With the release of *Lost Star Ship: Marathon*, representing the traditional Western console giants, most of the major players in the "search-and-destroy" genre have now taken their places in the gaming industry. We at Teahouse believe it’s time to take a brief look back at the evolution of this genre.

While the future of "search-and-destroy" games—once labeled as "niche" just a few years ago—remained somewhat unclear, we now have a much clearer picture of how this genre can break out of its niche and become the next big trend in FPS games, rivaling "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds."The hit "search-shoot-escape" games that have successfully gone mainstream today have, without exception, achieved an unprecedented goal: diversifying gameplay objectives—killing enemies and securing victory are no longer the only sources of fun for players.

As "Operation Delta" aptly summarized in a presentation at last year's GDC, the developers created the game with the hope that players would become "their own heroes" in Delta. By bringing together players with different goals and expectations for the game, they aim to drive a significant expansion of the FPS genre's appeal.

"Operation Delta": A Four-Dimensional Evaluation of Operators for Different Types of Shooters

In particular, "Search, Fight, Retreat" has attracted a large number of traditional console gamers and users in the middle-aged demographic.Many readers have likely noticed that today’s top battle royale games are all “creating content”—developing world settings and faction lore, building coherent in-game ecosystems, and competing on graphics quality—to provide players with a deeper sense of immersion beyond just “fighting.” In addition, the expansion of in-match loot progression and out-of-match RPG-style progression systems has introduced new loops, offering players more diverse ways to enjoy the game.

With the support of operational tools like the matchmaking system, "Search, Attack, Retreat" can even create an "information bubble" for players, much like the recommendations on short-video platforms—whether you're a master of solo, three-man, or aggressive map-clearing, a team player who enjoys coordinated gameplay, or a laid-back player who prefers to farm and enjoy the scenery; whether you're a "gaming addict" who plays for over ten hours a day or an office worker who plays occasionally to pass the time.The system will identify your behavioral patterns and match you to a gameplay environment that suits you, ensuring that every player feels right at home in the game.

This is why I believe *Marathon*, a game focused on combat, faces challenges in expanding its player base.Let’s take a look at what similar games have done—for example, *ARC Raiders*, which is currently in the top 5 of Steam’s online player count rankings. They’ve introduced a ranking system similar to a “good/evil score,” separating aggressive players from those who prefer cooperation. This allows aggressive players to have a thrilling time, while cooperative players can work together more comfortably to take down bosses and evacuate safely, creating many heartwarming moments.

There are also counterexamples. Take the first beta test of *PUBG: Blackout*, which received poor reviews earlier; due to its shrinking zone mechanic, players who relied on running and looting couldn’t quickly gather high-value loot to execute a “quick escape.” Then there’s *Star Abyss*, which just shut down its Chinese servers yesterday; because the game demanded such high levels of teamwork, many players who couldn’t find teammates were forced to quit.

In a sense, whether a project possesses the "genetic makeup for diverse gameplay" is the key factor determining whether a product can gain momentum and achieve long-term viral growth amid this current craze for search-and-destroy games. "Marathon" may still need to make more efforts in this direction.

As Tea House hasn’t even had a chance to mention yet, the current beta version of *Marathon* still has some fundamental issues affecting the player experience. For example, there are UI/UX problems such as a lobby menu that’s so minimalist it’s difficult to navigate, as well as somewhat confusing item icons and menu logic. There’s also the issue of loot and enemies being hard to distinguish due to the high-contrast visual style. According to player feedback during the beta, many players have been turned off by these factors.

While the issues mentioned above might be alleviated through minor tweaks, problems such as the game’s overall mission structure and the difficult-to-complete resource loops likely require more fundamental improvements. “Having to fight” will likely remain the main challenge faced by most new players of *Marathon*.