Since the announcement of Bungie’s new PvP extraction shooter, Marathon, fans have been speculating about its potential availability on Xbox Game Pass.
Since Bungie has a deep history with Microsoft, but ultimately parted ways to become independent and then onto Sony’s books, many are probably thinking that Marathon’s Game Pass dreams would be dead and buried.
But, with all this being said, the game is still multi-platform, and below we’ll shed any light we can on the state of a potential Game Pass release.
Is Marathon On Xbox Game Pass?
One key factor that may influence this decision is Bungie’s recent acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment, the parent company of PlayStation. As a result of this purchase, Bungie and its properties now have a closer relationship with PlayStation.
While this doesn’t necessarily mean all future Bungie games will be PlayStation exclusive, it could influence where and how new titles like Marathon are distributed.
Traditionally, games from studios owned by Sony have not appeared on Xbox Game Pass, especially not at launch. This is because obviously, Sony and Microsoft, the parent company of Xbox, are direct competitors in the gaming market.
Therefore, it’s reasonable to expect that Sony may want to incentivize gamers to choose PlayStation over Xbox by offering exclusive access to parts of Bungie’s games.
Some games, particularly those that were in development before the acquisition or those that have strong existing player bases on multiple platforms, can still appear on other consoles and platforms. Furthermore, with cross-platform play becoming more prevalent in the gaming industry, and Marathon being a part of that, Sony is not limiting Bungie’s potential audience by restricting their games to a single platform.
However, these are merely speculations based on existing industry trends and practices. The final decision about Marathon’s availability on Xbox Game Pass ultimately lies with Bungie and Sony.
Until an official announcement is made, fans will have to wait and see whether they’ll be able to enjoy Marathon via their Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, but all we can say is that it is quite unlikely at this time.
