The extraction shooter garnered a new wave of attention following the release of reviews from specialized gaming press.
Bungie’s extraction shooter, Marathon, launched on March 5, 2026. Prior to its release, the studio had requested journalists to withhold reviews until essential game content became available. This milestone was reached on March 17 with the deployment of update 1.0.5.
This update significantly rebalanced the game, introduced new mechanics and abilities, and added a high-level location named ‘Cryo Archive.’ Despite these improvements, the game continued to drop in Steam rankings, falling to 77th place in the global sales chart by March 26.
The situation drastically shifted after March 27, when Western publications began releasing their reviews en masse. Consequently, Marathon rapidly recovered its standing: first climbing to 32nd place, then to 17th. As of this publication, the game holds the 22nd position in Steam’s global sales chart.
In recent days, there have been no other significant news events apart from the release of reviews, which strongly suggests a direct link between the surge in interest and their publication. Critics generally received the game positively. The PlayStation 5 version scored 81 on Metacritic based on 40 reviews, while the PC version garnered 80 points from 33 reviews. User reviews on Steam are also ‘Very Positive,’ with 86% approval from nearly 31,000 ratings.
Thus, Bungie’s strategy of delaying review publication likely succeeded as a method for re-engaging the audience post-release, demonstrating that game press reviews continue to significantly influence player decisions.