According to a recent Forbes article by Paul Tassi, developing the game Marathon cost Bungie between $200 and $250 million.
He explains that the stated price doesn’t cover continuing expenses like upkeep and fresh content. Considering these ongoing costs, the total price could actually increase after the initial launch.
For context, Sony previously reported that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, a massive game for them, cost around $300 million to make. This high cost sparked a wider discussion about video game budgets and whether developers should focus on creating smaller, more affordable games that can be released more quickly.
It looks like the development costs for the Marathon game might actually be higher than those for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. However, this information hasn’t been officially confirmed and comes from sources within the company who shared it with Paul Tassi on the condition of remaining anonymous.
Tassi states in the article that he “can confirm Marathon’s budget is over $200 million”.
In January 2022, Sony bought Bungie for $3.6 billion, hoping to strengthen its PlayStation Studios. However, after layoffs and difficulties with the game Destiny 2, the integration hasn’t gone well. Sony intended for Bungie to lead the development of ongoing, online games, but projects like The Last of Us Multiplayer were cancelled, and the game Concord was a major disappointment.
It has now launched Marathon as a $40 multi-platform game to positive feedback from those playing.
However, there’s a growing sentiment that the players it has right now isn’t enough.
According to Tassi, the game needs a larger player base, must retain existing players, and needs to generate revenue through optional in-game purchases to remain sustainable.
Okay, so even though there’s been a lot of negativity lately, I’m hearing from people inside Bungie that they’re still really committed to making more content for Marathon! That’s a huge relief – it definitely isn’t getting shut down anytime soon. I mean, I gave it a 9 out of 10 in my review – I called it a truly brilliant extraction FPS, and I’m so glad to hear it’s continuing!
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2026-04-09 23:36