A rumor claiming Bungie planned to fold Marathon and Destiny 2 into a single IP made the rounds over the past few days – and it now has an official answer. Marathon creative director Julia Nardin publicly called the alleged leak completely fake, which should calm down the part of the Destiny 2 community that took it seriously.
The claim reportedly originated on 4chan and picked up speed once it was posted to the Destiny 2 subreddit. Nardin responded directly on Twitter: yes, both games share a fair amount of common ground and the same “Bungie DNA,” but they were designed as two separate entities and that’s how they’ll stay.
What Nardin Did Not Comment On
The merger was only one piece of the supposed leak. Alongside it came several other claims that Nardin did not address at all:
- Marathon going free-to-play by the end of the year
- Crossover skins being added to the game
- A PVE mode allegedly inspired by Monster Hunter and Splatoon’s Salmon Run
Since the headline claim of the whole package has been confirmed as fabricated, there’s little reason to trust the rest of it. Until Bungie says otherwise, treat all of it as unverified.
Destiny 2 Still Has the Bigger Crowd
Destiny 2 got its final content update in early June, and the community did not take that well. Bungie moved its attention to Marathon, yet players kept leaning toward the older game – back in August, Destiny 2 still had roughly ten times as many active players as Marathon, even though its last update was two months old at that point.
The scene around Destiny 2 hasn’t gone quiet either. Fans loudly asked for Destiny 3 during a PlayStation State of Play, and the community built the Project Sunrise mod, which brings vaulted content back into the game. The original Destiny isn’t forgotten either: a modder is working on getting Destiny 1 running on PC for the first time ever, which could give newcomers their first shot at trying it.
Marathon Is Rescheduling Its Content
Marathon itself is in a rougher spot. Bungie announced that the game’s update cycle is changing – it’s moving away from a strict seasonal system to give the dev team more time and flexibility. The practical result is that content originally lined up for September 22, just days after the announcement, has been pushed to December.
Player numbers reflect that. After a brief spike in July, activity has been sliding steadily, and Marathon currently averages somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 concurrent players on Steam. Whether it can reach Destiny’s level of popularity is still an open question.
Where to Next
If you want more context on how big studios are handling their long-running franchises right now, we covered Treyarch’s next step and also Build A Rocket Boy’s layoffs. All of our latest coverage sits in our gaming news section.
FAQ
No. Marathon creative director Julia Nardin confirmed the supposed leak is completely fake. Both games share the same “Bungie DNA” but were designed as separate entities and will stay that way.
The claim reportedly appeared on 4chan and spread after it was shared to the Destiny 2 subreddit.
That was part of the same unverified leak package and Nardin did not address it. There is no official confirmation, so treat it as a rumor.
Bungie is moving Marathon away from a strict seasonal update system. Content that was planned for September 22 has been shifted to December.
Destiny 2 received its final content update in early June. The community has kept the game alive through projects like the Project Sunrise mod, which restores vaulted content.