Last year, Bungie had a bunch of layoffs to the studio and more is apparently coming that will impact their next project, Marathon. According to IGN, Bungie had let go of Christopher Barrett who had been working with the studio for a long time and was leading the Marathon reboot.
Former Valorant game director, Joe Ziegler has been working on Marathon as the game director over the last 9 months. Joe left Riot Games for Bungie in 2022, but the role was never specified until now.
“For the last 9 Months, I’ve been working on Marathon as the game director. We’re still baking, but I’m excited to share with you more info on the game as we get closer and closer to bringing it to all of you,” says Ziegler on X (Twitter).
Hey everyone! Fun update: for the last 9
Months I’ve been working on Marathon as the game director. We’re still baking, but I’m excited to share with you more info on the game as we get closer and closer to bringing it to all of you.— Ziegler (@Ziegler_Dev) March 19, 2024
IGN also mentions that Bungie is pouring resources into getting Marathon shipped and its direction shifted under Joe Ziegeler. One example is that instead of having custom player characters there will be a cast of heroes to choose from.
It was announced in late 2023 that Marathon was delayed to a 2025 release pushing it just a year from its planned launch which layoffs at PlayStation Studios were more than likely a large factor in that.
