Marathon Sales Numbers Are In, And It's Concerning For Bungie...

TL;DR

Marathon sold only 1.22 million copies across all platforms, far below what Sony needs to justify its $3.6 billion Bungie acquisition.

Key Points

• 1.Marathon has sold approximately 1.22 million copies since launch. Broken down by platform: ~800,000 (70%) on Steam/PC, ~217,000 (19%) on PS5, and ~133,000 (11%) on Xbox — a disappointing split for Sony since PC sales yield lower revenue due to Steam's cut.
• 2.Despite low sales, Marathon's player retention and reception are surprisingly decent. The game holds an 86% positive Steam review score from nearly 30,000 reviews, and its player trend line, while declining, remains relatively stable rather than collapsing.
• 3.Arc Raiders and Helldivers 2 dwarf Marathon's numbers by comparison. Arc Raiders sold 14 million units and currently draws ~90,000 concurrent Steam players vs. Marathon's ~22,000; Helldivers 2 has sold over 20 million units and still outpaces Marathon's daily player counts.
• 4.Sony's corporate expectations are the core concern, not the game's quality. Sony paid $3.6 billion for Bungie expecting live-service expertise and a Destiny-level hit; 1.22 million copies does not suggest Marathon meets that bar, and Sony has a pattern of punishing studios even after respectable launches.
• 5.Sony's broader live-service strategy has mostly failed outside Helldivers 2. Concord lost hundreds of millions, numerous projects (God of War, Spider-Man, Last of Us, Twisted Metal live services) were cancelled, and studios like Bluepoint and Dark Outlaw Games were shut down after assigned live-service games collapsed.
• 6.The most likely path forward for Bungie may be Destiny 3, not Marathon. The creator suggests Marathon's high barrier to entry (hardcore extraction shooter) vs. Arc Raiders' accessibility is a structural problem, and that Sony may eventually redirect Bungie toward the more recognizable, proven Destiny franchise.