As ‘Marathon’ Goes On Sale, Is A Free-To-Play Switch In The Cards?

InnovationGamingAs ‘Marathon’ Goes On Sale, Is A Free-To-Play Switch In The Cards?ByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorApr 21, 2026, 09:53am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.MarathonBungieBungie’s Marathon continues to be an industry hot topic, the first new (“new”) IP from the studio after over a decade of Destiny, a Sony live-service offering in an age when that has often been a death sentence.Marathon is not PlayStation’s next Concord, as it has been previously accused of, and is in no danger of an imminent shutdown. But it has been rapidly losing players week-over-week, and simply put, that has to end, or at least stabilize. Forget competing with ARC Raiders; it’s now putting up numbers that are close to on par with The Finals.Pretty soon, there will have to be a switch to pursue more casual players. That’s actually already begun with an “even playing field” sponsored kit mode, and a new event that incentivizes players to show mercy to each other for bonus gear (this has resulted in more trolling than friendship, it seems). But will more drastic measures be needed?Marathon has just gone on sale on Xbox, a platform it has performed terribly on, where it’s down from $40 to $32, 20% off. When games start losing players and keep losing players, a frequent question arises: Should it switch to free-to-play?MarathonBungieMORE FOR YOUThe obvious idea here is that such a switch, eliminating that $40 barrier to entry, would draw in more players who may have otherwise been reluctant to give it a shot. It would not be the first game to try this, nor the last.No. I vote no, and I’m betting Sony and Bungie are saying no, as well. Why? A few reasons:1) It essentially already did this. The free Server Slam event was a trial run of the game jus...