Following Bungie’s recent reveal of Marathon, a first-person extraction shooter, skepticism has swept across social media. Many observers fear it may meet the same fate as Concord, the hero shooter that was yanked offline just weeks after its debut. In a surprising twist, a former developer from Concord took to Reddit to defend Bungie and plead for patience.

Under the username MrSpug, the ex-developer expressed deep sorrow over Concord’s failure to engage players and highlighted the team’s hard work. "It was gut-wrenching to see our project become the punchline of many jokes online," they admitted. "We tried our best, but it simply didn’t resonate. Please don’t judge others for our shortcomings."

The former developer, who was part of Firewalk Studios before it shuttered shortly after Concord's demise, empathized with the Marathon team. They praised their effort in tackling a highly competitive genre and emphasized that Concord and Marathon, despite their differences, share the same publisher in Sony.

One major point of contention stirred by the Marathon stream was Bungie's choice to steer clear of a free-to-play model. Instead, the game will be priced under the typical full-price title range, likely around $40 when it launches this September. This pricing strategy reignited worries about its longevity, similar to Concord’s.

"I really didn’t want to draw attention to myself, but claiming this game is a failure before it even launches is simply absurd," the developer added in a follow-up post, defending the optimistic vision for Marathon.

Mark your calendars! A closed alpha for Marathon will kick off on April 23, giving eager fans their first interactive taste of the game. Will Marathon rise above its predecessor’s shadow? Only time will tell!