ARC Raiders boss praises Bungie over Marathon launch - 'I hope they do well'
Earlier this month saw Bungie launch its latest game, Marathon – another new extraction shooter entering the fray and something that we certainly thought might be competition for the current top dog, ARC Raiders.
Looking at player numbers alone, Marathon seems like it’s failed to topple the success of Embark Studios. ARC Raiders is still managing to pull in close to 200,000 concurrent players on Steam each day, while Marathon manages around 63,000.
A lot of this is likely down to each game catering to slightly different sections of the extraction shooter community. ARC Raiders is tailored more towards the PvE enjoyers, while Marathon’s oppressive nature makes it much more attuned to those who like shooting at other players.
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Despite being competition for each other, Embark Studios has thrown praise in the way of Bungie for its ability to improve the game based on feedback in such a short space of time.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Soderlund said: “I know their technical test last year was heavily criticised. Whether that was accurate or fair, I can't tell you.
"But what I can tell you is that, even though the feedback may be a little mixed, it looks like the team has done a really good job of turning what was a big problem around in a very short period of time.”
He elaborates by saying that the ability to turn a game around like that in such a short space of time is ‘unusual’.
“Credit to that team and to the work that they have done with the game. I hope that they do well,” he finishes.
It’s a wholesome moment to see developers supporting each other, especially given how tumultuous the gaming industry can be these days.
Just last week, Highguard closed its servers for good just six weeks after launch.
Despite lower player numbers than it was probably expecting, Marathon is showing no signs of going anywhere just yet. Its Cryo Archive end-of-season raid is currently getting teased, with further two seasons set to take place later this year.
For our full thoughts on Marathon, check out our review here.