Bungie has officially refuted widespread rumors suggesting that its upcoming shooter Marathon will merge with the Destiny franchise. The clarification comes after a series of leaks circulated online, detailing supposed plans for integrating the two IPs.
Julia Nardin, Marathon's creative director and a veteran of the Destiny series, stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the leak claiming a merger between Marathon and Destiny is "fake." She emphasized that while the games share "Bungie DNA," they are distinct entities. "Please don't believe everything you read online," Nardin advised.
The leaked information had posited that Marathon would represent the "beginning of mankind's Golden Age" and foreshadow future threats for Destiny. It also suggested that narrative and lore elements would be combined, and that former Destiny 2 developers had been rehired to work on Marathon, implementing ideas originally intended for Destiny's cancelled expansions and sequel.
While Nardin addressed the merger aspect directly, she did not comment on the numerous other details presented in the leak, which reportedly originated from 4Chan and was later compiled on Reddit. These other purported details included Marathon borrowing features from Destiny, such as its reputation and faction systems, and the addition of a social space. The leak also claimed Bungie would offer in-game rewards in Marathon for players who completed certain Triumphs in Destiny 2's final update.
Bungie concluded its work on Destiny 2 with its final major update in June, stating that the game would receive no further expansions and that Destiny 3 is not in development. The studio also underwent significant layoffs shortly thereafter.
Marathon is reportedly planned to launch as a free-to-play title in December, a move that the leak suggests is the reason behind a recent delay to its next major update. This update is set to introduce a permanent PvE mode described as a blend of Monster Hunter and Splatoon's Salmon Run, where players and up to five friends will complete objectives and extract to face large, Destiny raid-style bosses.
Marathon has faced challenges in gaining traction since its launch, with analyst estimates suggesting worldwide sales of approximately 1.2 million copies. Player counts on Steam have also fallen to their lowest point since release, recently peaking at under 3,000 concurrent players daily, according to SteamDB.