The last few years have seen a lot of heated debate and controversy surrounding video games, maybe more than ever before. It feels like people are quick to criticize games, especially those that don’t succeed as ‘live service’ titles, and are often very critical of differing opinions. While not everyone behaves this way – many just want to enjoy the games they love – the failures of games like Concord and Highguard, along with many others, suggest that things have become unusually tense and divisive within the gaming community.
A new PlayStation game has faced a lot of criticism, both fair and unfair. This negativity has consistently followed the game’s developer, largely due to their previous struggles with live service games. When announced, their latest game, Marathon, was immediately met with harsh reactions, and further controversy and a delay led many to predict it would be a major failure, similar to another game called Concord. However, recent positive feedback from both critics and players after a public test event suggests those early criticisms might have been premature, and it’s time to reconsider our initial impressions.
Marathon Appears To Be A Massive Success Already
Okay, I’ll be honest – when I first heard about Marathon, I really didn’t like the idea, and I even hoped it wouldn’t succeed. I’m just not a fan of PlayStation pushing so hard into these live service games, especially after seeing so many talented studios, like Bluepoint, get shut down because of it. Plus, I was disappointed that Marathon ditched what made the original great – its single-player story – and went all-in on multiplayer. But, even though I was quick to dislike Bungie’s new game, I’m actually finding myself wanting to defend it now, especially with all the hype surrounding it.
The recent ‘Marathon’ server slam was incredibly popular, reaching a peak of 143,621 players on Steam. This is a significant achievement, especially when compared to ‘Concord,’ which only peaked at 2,388 players during its beta despite facing similar pre-release criticism. Even though the player count has decreased slightly since the slam began, it’s still averaging around 50,000 players, which is a very positive sign for the game’s future. This excitement is also supported by positive previews and praise from both critics and fans.
Look, there’s still some negativity around Marathon, it is a live service game, after all. But honestly, I’m really happy to see people starting to come around on it. It feels like all the extra time Bungie took to fix the big problems actually paid off. And more than that, I hope it shows everyone that a game can launch, stumble, and recover, even with a lot of hype. It’d be awesome if Marathon’s success meant future live service games got a fair shot, instead of being immediately torn down by negativity, no matter who makes them.
Marathon Proves We Need To Stop Criticizing Games Before They Come Out
Thinking about how people reacted to Marathon, and how similar the response has been to Highguard, it’s clear that both games suffered from harsh, unfair criticism that hurt their potential. Highguard had a rocky launch and a lot of early controversy, which led to a steep drop in players – now below 1,000 on PC – despite the developers trying to win back their audience.
Just before the harsh criticism of Highguard flooded the internet, the talented team at Wildlight Entertainment was preparing to celebrate. They were surprised by the overwhelmingly negative reaction, and frankly, it wasn’t deserved. While many were disappointed to see another live service shooter announced at the Game Awards, that didn’t justify the intense backlash. The unfair negativity unfortunately doomed a game that could have been great, which is truly a shame.
Online conversations will always happen, and this article is part of that. But I hope Marathon‘s success can encourage a more thoughtful response to new game announcements. It’s smart to be cautious when developers make big promises – we’ve all been disappointed before. However, we shouldn’t automatically assume the worst or feel instant dislike for a game we haven’t even tried.
It’s possible that Highguard could have attracted more players if people hadn’t already assumed it would be poor quality. Similarly, Concord might still be running today instead of becoming another abandoned game, leaving behind only a small trace of what it could have been. I truly hope we can approach new, unreleased games with a bit more patience, understanding, and generosity. This could give promising games – and the dedicated teams who create them – a chance to prove themselves before being dismissed.
Will you be playing Marathon when it comes out? Share your thoughts and join the discussion in the ComicBook Forum!
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2026-03-02 03:10