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'Marathon will not be a 'full-priced' title': Bungie calms fans' fears around the new extraction shooter's price in a world of $70 and $80 games
Bungie's upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon, is confirmed as a premium title, but its price remains undisclosed, sparking debate among gamers about whether a price above $50 will affect its success. The game launches September 23rd on PC and consoles.
We are very close to living in a world where, instead of diamonds, or gold necklaces, or calf leather handbags, people purchase each other the newest 70 or 80 multiplayer title as romantic consolation gifts. Bungie, which will soon release the promising new extraction shooter Marathon, isn't helping by being so secretive about the game's as-of-yet undisclosed price tag.
"Marathon will be a premium title," Bungie writes in a Twitter post. "Marathon will not be a 'full-priced' title."
The admission is as murky as a puddle. While Bungie's use of "premium" here refers to what we recognize in our Marathon hands-on preview to be the PvP game's stunning, intergalactic style and oiled-up, smooth controls, I'm a little paranoid that it also means Marathon will be $8 million.
Or, really, more like 50 or so. A "full-priced title," as Bungie says, could now refer to anything from the new, industry-standard [70 price tag](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/monster-hunter/dont-like-dollar70-games-monster-hunter-wilds-and-dragons-dogma-2-publisher-capcom-says-wait-5-years-and-theyll-all-be-dollar5/), to Nintendo's more ambitious 80 cost for Mario Kart World](https://www.gamesradar.com/platforms/nintendo-switch-2/former-sony-exec-says-nintendo-can-charge-usd80-for-switch-2-games-because-of-its-exclusives-if-its-the-only-place-you-can-play-mario-then-you-get-your-wallet-out/), or its downright hubristic [90 Switch 2 copy of Breath of the Wild.
In the realm of paid extraction shooters like Marathon, the fire is tempered a bit as red-hot Helldivers 2 costs 40 and Hunt: Showdown 1896 costs 30 – though many other popular titles like Delta Force are free-to-play, as Marathon skeptics have noted.
"Not being free to play will hurt it big time," quips a popular reply to Bungie's post on Twitter.
"If it wasn't bad news you'd announce it now," says another. Marathon will launch September 23 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, so it's only a matter of time before we find out.