Bungie delays Marathon, telling players, “we know we need more time”

Bungie has delayed the September 23 release of its upcoming shooter, Marathon. No further release date was given at this time.

In a statement signed by the “Marathon Dev Team,” the studio said the Alpha test had “created an opportunity for us to calibrate and focus the game on what will make it uniquely compelling,” but after listening to player feedback, admitted “we know we need more time to craft Marathon into the game that truly refliects your passion.”

It’s a blow to the beleaguered studio, which just last month was found to have used “unauthorized” iconography from an artist. It’s the fourth incident in which an artist has accused the developer of plagiarism.

“Through every comment and real-time conversation on social media and Discord, your voice has been strong and clear. We’ve taken this to heart, and we know we need more time to craft Marathon into the game that truly reflects your passion,” the statement said. “After much discussion within our Dev team, we’ve made the decision to delay the September 23rd release.

“Over the next few months, we’ll continue closed testing (including participants from the Alpha) to deploy gameplay updates and test new features as they come online.”

The statement closed on promising players can expect to hear from Bungie again “later this Fall when we can share the progress we’ve made, alongside the game’s new release date.”