{"id":459554,"date":"2026-03-05T21:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/459554\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T21:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:44:09","slug":"out-today-marathons-ps5-launch-puts-sonys-3b-live-service-gamble-to-the-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/459554\/","title":{"rendered":"Out Today: Marathon’s PS5 Launch Puts Sony’s $3B Live Service Gamble to the Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Out<\/a> Image: Push Square<\/p>\n

Marathon<\/a> is out today, and Sony\u2019s big $3 billion acquisition is riding on its success<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Back when the Japanese giant acquired Bungie in 2022<\/a>, it felt like a strange fit. Despite its work on Destiny<\/a>, the studio is best known for Halo<\/a> \u2013 a tentpole Microsoft franchise.<\/p>\n

Of course, the industry has changed so much in the years since that Halo: Campaign Evolved<\/a> will now release on the PS5 (unless the Pure Xbox<\/a> editors get their way). But at the time, it was a shock to see the Washington studio added to the PlayStation family.<\/p>\n

We suspect the platform holder was feeling antsy about Xbox\u2019s unprecedented spending spree, which had already seen it purchase publishing powerhouses Bethesda and Activision. The company was also trying to improve its live service output, and Bungie was seen as a crown jewel that could share knowledge with all its teams.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s been a turbulent road to Marathon\u2019s release, with CFO Lin Tao confirming an \u201cimpairment loss<\/a>\u201d on the studio as recently as 2025, due to the flagging performance of Destiny 2<\/a>. Layoffs ensued, and even one incubated development group, Team LFG, were split from Bungie<\/a> and installed under the PS Studios hierarchy instead.<\/p>\n

We also can\u2019t write this article without mentioning the Art Raiders saga<\/a>, which saw some of the assets in Marathon stolen from an independent artist. That situation has since been resolved to the original creator\u2019s satisfaction, but remains a mark against the game.<\/p>\n

But Bungie has rebounded resolutely. Public opinion of Marathon, initially so negative around the time of its originally intended September release date, has transformed. Among the improvements, the studio has incorporated proximity chat and massively polished the title\u2019s unique presentation.<\/p>\n

Sony needs this game to be a success, and a lot is riding on it. Bungie was bought to lead its live service initiative, so this is the crown jewel in its catalogue.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be looking for big launch day numbers, but crucially, strong player retention. The upside is that the studio has already announced some extremely robust post-release plans<\/a>, which shows the studio has been thinking long-term with this project.<\/p>\n

There\u2019ll be a huge emphasis on Steam concurrent player numbers over the next few days, as it\u2019s one of the few meaningful data points we get for games these days. The recent Server Slam started strong, attracting over 140k simultaneous players on PC at its peak, but faded fast.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s many reasons for that, we suspect. Some players may have hopped on just to try it out, before bouncing ahead of the release date. Others may not have wanted to commit, knowing their progress won\u2019t transfer to the full release.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s always worth remembering that Steam is just one piece of the puzzle, and both the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of the game will also be contributing to its success. Both Bungie and Sony will obviously be monitoring the bigger picture.<\/p>\n

We suspect success for Marathon won\u2019t be determined on day one, but as it evolves into its later seasons. If it can retain players and crucially attract a steady stream of revenue, then Sony will be satisfied.<\/p>\n

But this is a big bet, and a lot is riding on the game\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

Are you playing Marathon? (596 votes)
\nYes, of course I’m playing it11%Not yet, but I plan on playing it at some point9%Nah, but I am tempted11%No, it just isn’t for me69%<\/p>\n

\"Sammy<\/p>\n

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He\u2019s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image: Push Square Marathon is out today, and Sony\u2019s big $3 billion acquisition is riding on its success.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459555,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3666,59,29458,165308,112,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-459554","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-bungie","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-marathon","11":"tag-out-today","12":"tag-ps5","13":"tag-technology","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}