so i've been playing marathon for a bit now, and i have to say it's been a real blast - it's exactly the kind of pvp-focused extraction shooter i was hoping for, with bungie's signature style and gunplay that's just so much fun. it's like the perfect counter to arc raiders, which is more focused on social stuff.



but despite how much i'm enjoying it, there's been a lot of talk about how marathon isn't doing as well as sony was hoping - and honestly, it's not that surprising. i mean, the game's got a pretty niche vibe going on, even within the extraction shooter genre. it's not like arc raiders, which tries to appeal to a wider crowd with its pve and social features. marathon is just more... intense, i guess.



if you look at the numbers, marathon's player count has been dropping since launch - it peaked at around 88,000 concurrent players on steam, but now it's down to around 20,000. compared to arc raiders, which can still get over 100,000 players even on a bad day, it's pretty clear that marathon isn't the next big thing. and with sony spending $3.6 billion to acquire bungie, you've got to wonder if they're a bit disappointed.

i think part of the problem is that extraction shooters are just a niche genre in general - i mean, look at games like escape from tarkov or hunt: showdown. they've got dedicated communities, but they're not exactly mainstream. and marathon is even more specialized than that, with its focus on pvp and competitive play. so yeah, it's not for everyone.



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