Bungie's Marathon Cost Over $200 Million Amid Player Drop

Bungie's highly anticipated extraction shooter Marathon, released a little over a month ago on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam, reportedly cost more than 200 million dollars to develop, with estimates suggesting the figure could exceed 250 million. The revelation, confirmed by Forbes journalist Paul Tassi, highlights the financial stakes for the live-service title amid a noticeable decline in player engagement since its launch.

The budget covers only the core development phase and excludes ongoing expenses for server maintenance and future content updates, which could push total costs even higher. For context, industry analysts place the average budget for AAA video games around 300 million dollars, driven largely by developer salaries and extended production timelines. Marathon's development was notably lengthy and challenging, aligning with trends in the sector where live-service models demand continuous investment to retain audiences.

Sales figures indicate 1.2 million copies sold across all platforms in the first three weeks, a number Tassi verified through industry sources. While this marks a solid initial performance for many titles, live-service games...