Bungie asks sites to delay Marathon reviews, with release date Steam player count below 100K

Update: Notebookcheck has obtained a copy of the message Bungie sent to reviewers. The communication can be seen at the bottom of the page. 

Buyers undecided about Bungie’s new extraction shooter won’t find much guidance on Metacritic. That’s partly due to the publisher’s request to delay Marathon reviews until after its release date. The company has asked sites to hold their opinions until more content arrives later in March.

Marathon reviews will eventually come

On the ResetEra forums, it emerged that a popular contributor’s media outlet “didn’t get early access to the server.” Other posters backed up the claim, mentioning that IGN’s in-progress evaluation wouldn’t be final until the end of the month.

It’s unclear if positive Marathon reviews would have boosted the game’s peak Steam player count. Still, the title is falling short of some predictions, topping out below 87,000 on its March 5th release date. It currently ranks outside the top 10 most-played games on Valve’s marketplace. Observers have noted that the new indie game Slay the Spire 2 reached a healthier 177,000+.

During the server slam, the Bungle project saw a Steam player count of over 143,300. However, that number steadily declined before the playtest ended. Now with a $39.99 price tag, players may hesitate to give it a second chance.

Bungie’s fears may be unwarranted

Despite the skepticism, early Steam Marathon reviews are praising the extraction shooter. At the moment, it boasts a very positive rating of more than 84%. Most gamers enjoy the smooth gunplay familiar to Bungie games like Destiny 2. Even so, complaints about a congested UI have been common since initial demos.

Not many players are bemoaning a lack of content, which seems to be a concern for the studio. Opinions vary about Bungie’s rather unusual appeal to sites. Some gamers feel that critics should be encouraged to issue their final verdicts on a paid product. On the other hand, the live-service model can dramatically change a game after its release date.

Season 1 for the sci-fi shooter is underway, but players can expect major additions to surface soon. An endgame zone map will give them a better sense of the narrative’s direction. Ranked mode also promises to bolster competitive multiplayer options in the second half of March.