Marathon Is Making a Risky Move That Could Lead to Backlash

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Outlined on its official website today, Bungie shared news of how seasons will operate in Marathon. While Season 1 will kick off immediately once the game releases this week, it will eventually be replaced by Season 2, presumably later this year. When that happens, Bungie revealed that a hard reset for Marathon will go into effect, which will see players losing their gear, current level, and contract/faction progression. The things that will carry over from season to season, however, are cosmetics and codex entries. Otherwise, Marathon players should be prepared to see everything else wiped out.

“Each season of Marathon brings a clean slate for the whole community with progression resets. These resets include everyone’s gear, contract progression, faction progression, and player level,” Bungie wrote. “Seasonal resets mean that the game stays dangerous, loot feels meaningful, and there’s always a good opportunity to get back into the game or bring a friend in without feeling behind the curve. It’s a way to say goodbye to the old, welcome the new, and kickoff a journey from zero-to-hero with new ways to play, content to master, and things to discover.”

Will This Benefit Marathon?

So, is this something that will benefit Marathon? Well, it’s hard to say right now. On paper, Bungie seems to be aiming for a model that is similar to Fortnite and how it handles seasons. Given how successful Fortnite has been with this structure for multiple years, it’s easy to see how Bungie could look to somewhat mirror it with Marathon.

Then again, having a hard reset like this might ultimately spur those who end up playing Marathon the most. By losing access to all of your gear and progression at the end of each season, it might lead some players to feel like all of the progress they made was for nothing. Ultimately, we won’t really know how the community will feel about this until the transition from Season 1 to Season 2 ends up taking place, but if it prompts frustration from many, it wouldn’t be much of a shock.

If nothing else, though, Bungie has made clear that all future content and updates that come to Marathon will be completely free. This means that the game won’t receive paid DLC that will fracture its player base, ensuring it has a good chance of remaining relevant for years to come.

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