Destiny 2’s third and final Episode of its experimental year between its old Light and Darkness saga and its new Frontiers era has just arrived. Heresy, which revives old foe Oryx and could see us face fellow Hive god Xivu Arath at some point, is the last chance for Bungie to tie up loose ends before its new saga – and win back some players after a difficult spell post-Final Shape. While there’s plenty to get stuck into in today’s Heresy update, dataminers have been digging a little deeper, and they’ve uncovered a major hint that we could be hearing more about Marathon, Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter, soon.
For the unaware, Marathon is based on Bungie’s old space game IP and reboots the series with an Escape From Tarkov-style extraction twist. Given the studio’s track record of creating brilliant space FPS games, Marathon was, once upon a time, my most highly anticipated upcoming title. However, Bungie has been through the wringer in recent months, with layoffs, canceled or reallocated projects, and Marathon getting a new game director early last year – former Valorant lead Joe Ziegler is now at the helm of the project.
The summation of all this turmoil is that, according to reputable reports from October 2024, Marathon is in a “not great” spot. Aside from a video update from Ziegler a couple of months ago, little has officially been said about Marathon since its reveal. No gameplay has been shown either.
However, let me don my deerstalker hat, light a pipe, and grab my magnifying glass for a moment, because connecting the dots between some old and recent leaks could suggest more Marathon news is on the way.
Following the Heresy update that dropped today, February 4, Destiny 2 dataminers have found files for a Marathon-themed sparrow within the game’s files. As was reported by The Game Post, the datamined sparrow features a blocky design with UESC logos on it. The UESC, or Unified Earth Space Council, is the interstellar government in Marathon’s universe.
This marries up with an older Destiny 2 datamine that found references to Marathon pre-orders potentially going live at some point during the Heresy episode. Speculatively, the sparrow could either be a celebratory cosmetic gifted to all Destiny 2 players to commemorate pre-orders going live, or an in-game incentive you receive after locking in your pre-order.
The third and final leak is in regards to a PlayStation State of Play showcase that’s rumored to be taking place next week. If new Marathon details were to drop anywhere, it would be in such a showcase.
As you can see, this all links up quite nicely. However, please remember that none of this has been officially revealed or confirmed by Sony or Bungie at this stage.
Even though the full Marathon release date probably won’t arrive until 2026 now, its high time we finally see some gameplay and hear more about the public playtests Ziegler said he hopes arrive in 2025. Until then, here are some other excellent multiplayer games you can dive into right now.
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