Marathon’s hopes of success are looking increasingly unlikely every day. What started as an ambitious and anticipated reboot of one of Bungie’s oldest IP has since spiralled out into controversy on a near daily basis. If it isn’t using stolen artwork, it’s reports of a very toxic workplace and poor working conditions, something even more former developers have now commented on.
In a post on Bluesky that was picked up by The Game Post, an ex-Bungie employee known as “Spirited” has come out and said that they “feel for those still at the studio,” because “working with engineering / Marathon leadership was extremely toxic and humiliating.” They sign off by saying that “Bungie leadership needs to be gutted completely.”
This also comes as former community manager at Bungie, Liana Ruppert, has taken to X to comment on a report that picked up on Spirited’s statement, wth Ruppert adding that “There are a lot of us speaking out, no one who works or worked for speaks out against a big corp unless there is a good reason to.”
Ruppert continues: “Yall can be mad at me all you want and say I’m being unprofessional but you’re kidding yourself if you think I’m the only one speaking out. I’ve never publicly gone against a company I’ve worked for before in 22 years working in games. Maybe, just maybe, there’s a reason for that”.
Marathon is currently expected to launch on September 23, but with the constant controversy and the middling impressions from those who have played the game, you have to wonder if that date will stick.