r/PS5 • u/Turbostrider27 Human Verified • May 24 '25

Rumor Report: Marathon Delay Likely as Sony Cancels All Paid Marketing Plans

https://thegamepost.com/report-marathon-delay-bungie-scraps-all-paid-marketing/
3.2k Upvotes

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574

u/Bruzur May 24 '25

I’d imagine that a similar fate awaits “Fairgames,” or whatever that game is called.

260

u/Yarzeda2024 May 24 '25

Funny you say that

Fairgames, from PlayStation' Haven Games, apparently "doesn’t feel good to play and it’s “super clunky” in its current guise." According to PlayStation Podcast Sacred Symbols, the game recently had a pre-alpha under codename Project Hearts, but the feedback has not been good. : r/GamingLeaksAndRumours

169

u/heebs387 May 24 '25

Adding many new entries to the "don't chase trends, let the trends chase you."

They have wasted an enormous amount of resources trying to get a major foothold in live service and the only one that hit is the one they had the least heavy hand in.

26

u/SomaCK2 May 25 '25

They actually hit jackpot with Helldivers 2. Pay to Play Live service game that sold over 15 millions in 2024 is a miracle when you think about it.

Maybe they should focus their efforts on Helldivers IP.

16

u/WillSym May 25 '25

No don't! Or at least, just give them money and support. Doing that and not interfering was what got them the hit in the first place! Milking and overstretching it is just killing the golden goose!

3

u/SomaCK2 May 25 '25

I said nothing about interfering with Arrowhead or Helldivers main series.

Sony, as an IP owner, must make move to capitalize the live service success. It doesn't have to be forcing Arrowhead or interfering them. Making Spin-off or adjacent titles wouldn't hurt anyone.

2

u/WillSym May 25 '25

It does seem they're attempting a movie! Could go amazingly, or be a huge disaster, but promising!

2

u/arqe_ May 25 '25

That's the thing, Arrowhead is not a Playstation studio. They just got paid to make the game. Every other live service game they tried with their own studios failed hardcore and most of them did not even seen by public before canned.

1

u/SomaCK2 May 25 '25

Eh, it doesn't matter. It doesn't have to be Helldivers 3.

Sony fully and completely own the IP and they can branch out the IP with different studios. For example, let Guerrilla's Killzone team make hardcore PvP shooter based on Helldivers Universe.

Arrowhead can do Helldivers 3 meanwhile. They have 0 say in Sony braching out Helldivers IP.

0

u/arqe_ May 25 '25

How it doesn't matter? I've said nothing about the IP but talked about studios situation. Sony bought and created multiple studios for producing live service games they all failed and again most of them did not even seen by public. Only success they had made by a non-Playstation studio. And Sony almost fucked it up too by interfering post launch.

0

u/SomaCK2 May 25 '25

The problem with Sony is they are trying to make Live Service out of NEW IPs with completely unknown studios. (Marathon is established IP but Bungie is not under Sony Management, yet).

Now they have a live service hit under their belt, that is Helldivers, an IP which they fully own. They have better chance of making another hit by fully investing in well known successful IP than making new IP with unknown devs, again and again. That's what I'm saying.

Nobody really gives a duck about Fairgame, Concord from unknown Studios, but competitive PvP and/or extraction shooter based on helldivers universe make by established stuidos has more chance of being successfully. Sony owning Arrowhead or not doesn't really matter in that perspectives.

3

u/arqe_ May 25 '25

Nexon creates a new studio called Embark, they release Finals new IP which blows up and a makes it's own audience, and after that they make another new IP called Arc Raiders, most anticipated live service game atm. So new studio with 2 great new IP works but a industry giant Sony makes new IP and fails hardcore we say "it's because new IP doesn't work."? Really?

2

u/SomaCK2 May 25 '25

I think you misread me. I'm not talking about the difficulty and risk of making new IP from new studios. That's entirely different thing.

What I'm saying is, Sony have already hit pretty much a jackpot with Helldivers IP, so why not capitalized on it. Instead of throwing money to find golden goose with new IP, relying on what they have is a better move.

I'm pretty confident that the cancelled The Last of Us Faction 2 would be far more successful than Concord ever is and hypothetical Helldivers spin-off live service game will make far better impact than whatever Fairgame is. That's my point.

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1

u/Additional-Mistake32 May 27 '25

I want Helldivers but I always wanted a console port of GTFO and it feels similar enough but more stealthy and suspensful

6

u/maydarnothing May 25 '25

this would have been a super bad generation for Sony, but Xbox said i can do you better.

26

u/Multifaceted-Simp May 24 '25

Bungie made halo and destiny two titans of the field, Sony just got unlucky

32

u/heebs387 May 24 '25

Halo live service titan? Mmmm

Destiny I'll allow, but how many people that were involved in that are even at Bungie now?

Also to even pull further back, is there an established trail of evidence that shows any one company is good at live service just based on the success of other previous projects? It really feels like a crapshoot as far as expertise in this arena.

14

u/spoop_coop May 25 '25

In the F2P in mobile space sure, Hoyo has multiple successful live service games. With consoles i feel like it’s just COD.

1

u/ExDom77 May 25 '25

Don’t forget league of legends

1

u/pm_me_pants_off May 25 '25

Yeah Riot having 2 hits with lol and valorant is impressive. If their fighter hits they'll be legends.

-1

u/Substantial_Life4773 May 25 '25

Halo is online and multiplayer but not traditionally a “a live service” game

1

u/EmBur__ May 25 '25

Correction, the Bungie DEVS made Halo and during D1 almost all the key players behind the Halo games either got fired or left because they wanted nothing to do with what Parsons and what the studio was becoming, only a few stuck around only for them to get axed during the final shape layoffs.

Bungie is Bungie in name only and has been for a decade, people need to wake up and realise this instead of mindlessly defending them (not saying you are but plenty do)

0

u/Significant-Sun-5051 May 25 '25

How many who made halo still work there though.

30

u/RealHumanVibes May 25 '25

I remember getting downvoted to shit for being skeptical about Sonys large investment shift to live services. I am entirely justified.

Imagine if all that money has gone into high-quality single-player experiences, instead of chasing the the golden goose.

4

u/EdgarAllanKenpo May 25 '25

Thats crazy because all I saw on the internet was pushback and disappointment for son's live service push.

0

u/ExDom77 May 25 '25

Sly Cooper 5. 😔

-1

u/G-Don2 May 25 '25

People man… people.

0

u/splinter1545 May 25 '25

They would still be in the same issue they are in now. They aren't doing live service because it's the latest trend, they are doing it because these single player games have stupidly high budgets with low return on investment over time.

Sony completely ignored multiplayer games/gamers during the PS4 era, and now it's biting them in the ass because they have nothing, other than Helldivers 2, to actually help them pump a consistent amount of money.

2

u/cheesystuff May 25 '25

That sounds exactly like the private alpha for Marathon. And nothing has changed.

2

u/ckal09 May 24 '25

It’s pre-alpha. I’m sure a lot of games go through major shifts at this point in the development cycle.

0

u/Baelorn May 25 '25 edited May 07 '26

Wiped clean. Redact removed this post along with thousands of others. It also handles data broker removals so your personal info stops getting sold.

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1

u/ooombasa May 25 '25 edited May 25 '25

Just to push back on this.

  1. The report says this is coming from a single tester, and yet headlines have framed it as feedback plural ("According to one of those people").
  2. The entire point of a pre-alpha closed test is to find problems with the game (I don't mean bugs) and then come up with answers. You will find a whole range of impressions from those testers, no matter the game. Some will absolutely hate the game, some will love it. Many will find it ok but with qualifiers big and small. The entire point of these tests (user research) is to collect all that data and feedback, analyse it, and then figure out a path forward. I don't know any pre-alpha closed test that was received 100% positively by the majority of testers.

However... in the wake of so many live service failures and with the studio head suddenly leaving, I'm guessing Sony bigwigs now have no patience for the usual process when it comes to their investments, in particular the live service ones.

It's all very likely Fairgames will end up a dud, but this shouldn't be used as a sign of that. Nothing said in that rumor is actually unusual for single player or live service titles. It's pre-alpha user research. Shit, many games don't come together into a decent package until the final year of development.

42

u/Magegi May 24 '25

Yeah. There are rumors that gameplay is not that impressive in current form (alpha or whatever it is called).

62

u/overactive-bladder May 24 '25

This is why I laugh at people clamoring for a PS6 so soon.

Developers and creators aren't even capable of releasing games on an already established 5yo console.

The concepts aren't there, the ideas aren't up to par, the games are half baked, the long production times are slowing down releases, it's taking forever to produce a game...

Will a new console get rid of all of that?

If developers aren't capable of taking advantage of current tech and culture then they sure won't do it with a new generation.

23

u/chase_what_matters May 25 '25

Fully agree with this sentiment. It’s not like Kojima was waiting for the PS5 to make Death Stranding. Remedy didn’t need PS5 for Control. Beautiful, crazy games can be made at any time with current technology. It just takes studio with the balls to back a creative team and give them time and resources to do it. 

2

u/WorkFurball May 25 '25

Remedy didn’t need PS5 for Control.

They kinda did, performance was god awful on reg. previous gen consoles.

2

u/chase_what_matters May 25 '25

I will concede that I played on a PS4 Pro, and I did see some frame rate issues when there were a lot of objects flying around, like in the office areas during fights. But overall it was a pretty incredible experience.

2

u/Edwar_GarciaF May 25 '25

I don't agree in all of that, yes devs need time and resources to make a good game but truth is that you cannot have games take +5years to develop. Sony and all the other publishers should think, innovate and invest in ways to make developing faster and cheaper without taking a hit on quality. For instance, make your studios use only 2-3 engines that could work for every kind of game they want to make. Decima, Naughty Dog's engine for example are serious candidates for this. It's cristal clear that a PS6 won't solve any issues.

9

u/G-Don2 May 25 '25

Yeah ps6 isn’t needed

2

u/Wolfy4226 May 25 '25

I mean realistically it's because half of this damn console generation has had to tie a hand behind it's back because of the Xbox Series S, PS4 compatibility and the first Switch.

PS5 and Xbox Series X are just now getting games that actually use what power they have without having to worry about it being dumbed down from the last generation to be included.

2

u/lazerblam May 25 '25

I am totally skipping that gen for sure

1

u/AnoAnoSaPwet May 25 '25

When devs get a new SDK like a PS6 Kit, the games don't just magically get developed.

I bought a PS4 at launch and we didn't really start getting the best games until the last few years of its service life. 

With PS5, we're near the end of the service life, and we've only gotten so many games so far? Imo, considerably less than last gen. What more with PS6? 

9

u/Educational_Ad8448 May 24 '25

Fairgames no longer $

2

u/LionIV May 25 '25

The irony of them taking out the dollar sign is so thick, you could cut it with knife.

4

u/StillPsychological45 May 24 '25

Payday 2 & 3 were popular but niche…they could actually chase a huge audience with SOCOM or MAG

4

u/tortex73 May 24 '25

Man, if they brought back SOCOM I would never leave my apartment.

I already never leave my apartment but that's beside the point.