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We are 24 hours away from the launch of season 2 of Marathon, Bungie\u2019s extraction shooter, which is trying to expand its playerbase beyond a hardcore niche.<\/a><\/p>\n Season 2 would have been a big enough test on its own to see how many people from its original launch may return, and how big the increase is compared to the last few \u201cbaseline\u201d weeks.<\/p>\n But a playercount wrench is being thrown into the works, as Bungie has now made this Marathon\u2019s first free week, not weekend, which will begin with the season 2 launch on June 2, tomorrow, and run through the following week. Progress made would be carried over to a purchase of the $40 game if players are convinced to stay on board. So, we\u2019re also going to see a surge of free-to-play players, where seeing that level of interest is obviously key.<\/p>\n Finally, if that wasn\u2019t enough, this season 2 launch comes just after the reveal that Bungie will cease development on Destiny 2 after an update next week on June 9. The situation has A) generated some amount of anger at Bungie and at Marathon specifically for being the game \u201cchosen\u201d over Destiny for future development, and B) the June 9 update for Destiny looks amazing, and could pull people from Marathon (a large portion of which are Destiny players) back to that original game.<\/p>\n So, it\u2019s going to be a bit chaotic, to put it lightly. The season looks good. Its new defensive runner is neat. The new battle options for the night map are cool. There appear to be Runner zombies as new enemies to attack players. But people have to show up.<\/p>\n The numbers here are beyond important given the current precarious position of the game. I\u2019m not sure I even need my insider Bungie sources (who agree) that this is a hugely significant moment for the game, especially with those first two items. While Marathon did have a \u201cfree\u201d test in the form of its server slam, this week-long one is now:<\/p>\n So it\u2019s the full game, no more limits to tease players. The game still costs money, which is obviously the end goal of Bungie, but players should realize the season itself costs nothing. This isn\u2019t Destiny, and instead is akin to almost all other games where new maps and heroes are going to be free.<\/p>\n The publicly available Steam Charts are lambasted by Marathon players and weaponized by critics when it comes to gauging how Marathon is doing, but yes, Sony and Bungie look at these and yes, they are especially important here given that PC players outnumber console players 2:1. My sources tell me that console is more or less viewed as a lost cause at this point in terms of dramatically surging market share or the playerbase there.<\/p>\n If a new season plus a free week cannot beat out the initial paid launch of Marathon, that\u2019s a very bad sign. If the free week ends and the game does not rise significantly above its recent 10-11K concurrent baseline, that\u2019s a bad sign.<\/p>\n Of course, the opposite is true. If either of those numbers blow up, the initial Marathon hate memes and initial skepticism could be fading. Sony and Bungie both indicate that Marathon will get investment for a while. Bungie already has plans for season 5 a year from now, which they\u2019ve publicly stated. But without Destiny 2 and any other greenlit projects, the pressure is on Marathon to not just hit expectations, but exceed them, even if that is an unfair position to put a game in that was never going to appeal to a mass audience.<\/p>\n There are other tests this season, including a PvP \u201clite\u201d mode and a PvE concept that will arrive as experiments later. Those will be worth watching, especially the ladder, as the PvP sweatiness has turned many players off who want to play a Bungie game but not\u2026Marathon in its current form. But it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess how that will actually play out. All eyes are on Tuesday and the week that follows.<\/p>\n Follow me <\/strong>on Twitter<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>YouTube<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Pick up my sci-fi novels the <\/strong>Herokiller series<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>The Earthborn Trilogy<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n