As hype builds around Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter Marathon, game director Joe Ziegler is opening up about the studio’s approach to design, especially when it comes to player interaction and standing out in a crowded genre.

In an interview, Ziegler confirmed that Marathon won’t feature proximity chat — at least for now. While the team isn’t against the feature in theory, they’re not ready to include it without solid tools to prevent toxicity. Basically, no voice chat with nearby players until Bungie figures out how to keep things civil.

Ziegler also made it clear that Marathon isn’t trying to go head-to-head with games like Escape from Tarkov. Instead of chasing trends, Bungie wants Marathon to carve out its own identity — and narrative is supposed to be a big part of that. The goal is to tell a story players actually care about, while still delivering tense, extraction-style gameplay.

The big question is whether this clean, curated approach will actually be fun. A unique game world is great, but if it’s too polished or too controlled, will players keep coming back? At the end of the day, most people just want to have a good time.

Main image: steampowered.com

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