Marathon Player Count Drops 59% as Bungie Teases Major Updates

Bungie’s extraction shooter Marathon has seen its player base decline by 59 percent within one month of its launch peak.

The developer has recently addressed technical stability by deploying a fix for a movement exploit described as “unhealthy” in the game’s latest update.

Mid-Season Update and Shell Balancing

Game director Joe Ziegler has announced that the title’s intelligence-focused Shell, Recon, will receive significant adjustments to increase its viability. These changes are part of a broader mid-season update scheduled for April 14, which will also include buffs for the Vandal Shell and a nerf to the game’s knife.

The updates to Recon focus on two primary abilities. The Echo Pulse, a prime ability that pings enemies within a specific radius, will be modified to distinguish between hostile UESC computer-controlled bots and human enemy Runners. Under the recent system, Runners utilizing an active Signal Jammer effect will be pinged as UESC bots. Bungie noted that it will become more difficult for players to determine if they are within the range of an enemy Recon’s Echo Pulse.

The Tracker Drone tactical ability, which deploys an explosive spiderbot to pursue hostile Runners, will receive improvements to its tracking behavior and pathing. The update aims to resolve issues where the drone would become stuck in corners or crawl up walls. The drone will now be capable of latching onto an alternative target if the initial target moves out of its range.

These adjustments are slated for implementation in patch 1.0.6 on April 14.