The Marathon Hate Train: When Criticism Turns Into a Trend

Lately, something weird’s been happening in the gaming world. Every so often, a new game pops up and suddenly everyone’s piling on. It usually starts with some fair criticism, but before you know it, the whole thing spirals into nonstop bashing. People forget what’s real and just run with the negativity. Objectivity? Out the window. It’s all about the hype, and not in a good way.

Right now, that game appears to be Marathon. However, the scale of the criticism raises an important question: is the backlash actually justified, or has Marathon simply become the next victim after the failures of other live-service projects? To understand this, we need to start with the games that laid the foundation for this narrative.

From Failure to Meme: What Happened to Concord and Highguard

The current wave of hate didn’t start with Marathon. It was shaped by the high-profile failures of Concord and Highguard.

When Concord came out, nobody really expected much. It just couldn’t stand out in the packed world of hero shooters, and people jumped on its character design, gameplay, and even the whole idea behind it. Pretty much right away, the game stopped being something anyone took seriously. Instead, it became just another internet joke.

Highguard followed a similar path. Technical issues, an unclear identity, and a cold reception from both players and streamers quickly pushed it into the same category — another failed live-service experiment.

But after these failures, something interesting happened. Instead of simply moving on, part of the community began searching for the next game to declare a failure even before its release. And that’s when Marathon entered the spotlight.

The First Wave of Hate Toward Marathon

The first major controversy surrounding Marathon was related to art theft. Fans noticed that some design elements in early materials looked very similar to the work of an artist known as Antireal. This led to accusations that the studio had used his artwork without permission. The story quickly spread across social media and became the first major wave of criticism.

However, the situation eventually evolved. Antireal — the artist whose work had previously been used without permission in Marathon — is now listed in the game’s credits as a Visual Design Consultant, suggesting that the issue was addressed.

At the same time, another factor amplified the backlash: the very rough state of the alpha version of the game. Players reported poor optimization and a visually unpolished experience. After a large wave of criticism, Bungie made the bold but correct decision to delay the game’s release.

The Server Slam Backlash

The next wave of criticism arrived during Server Slam, a large-scale server test held before the game’s release. Ironically, the event itself was only part of the issue. The context surrounding it had an even greater impact. Around the same time, the shutdown of Highguard’s servers was announced, which immediately fueled a new wave of comparisons.

For people who were already skeptical about the game, the conclusion was simple: "Oh look, here comes Concord 3." This narrative quickly spread across YouTube, Twitter, and streaming platforms.

Influencers played a major role in amplifying it. Many of them didn’t fully understand the mechanics of the game, or failed to acknowledge that the demo represented less than 50% of the game’s actual content, yet they had already formed their opinions.

Some spent just a few hours in the game, didn’t understand its systems, and then published videos with loud titles like "Marathon DOA" (Dead on Arrival).

One of the most prominent examples is Grummz. Much of his audience was built during the GamerGate 2 and Sweet Baby Inc. controversies. After those discussions faded, he needed a new source of content — and Concord, Highguard, and now Marathon became convenient targets.

Another example is Smash JT, who released a clickbait video claiming that Marathon was already dead. There isn’t much point in discussing him at length — you can simply watch the clip from that video below. What’s important is that deep analysis of the game is largely absent in such content.

At some point, Marathon stopped being just a game. It became content for generating hype and outrage.

When a Positive Opinion Triggers Backlash

The situation escalated to the point where even positive opinions about the game began attracting hostility.

A good example is the V-Tuber TheBurnPeanut, who directly addressed his audience and asked them to stop the wave of hate.

He said:

Shut up! This happens with every game… the game you’re telling me to go play ARC Raiders you literally did it to as well.

  

His reaction highlights a major problem within modern gaming culture: people often form opinions about games before actually playing them.

When Every Game Gets Called "Concord"

This trend was perfectly summarized by content creator Mokeysniper, who pointed out the absurdity of modern gaming discourse.

He wrote:

We have completely lost the plot. Multiplayer? Concord 3.0. Anything but an open world? Concord slop. Any abilities at all? Oh so Concord is a genre now?

  

He added another striking example:

If Titanfall 2 released today some of ya’ll would call it Concord slop because it has abilities and "hero" Titans.

  

Some people have even started putting Horizon Hunters Gathering into the same category, despite the fact that it’s a completely different type of game.

In reality, the internet seems to have found a template for failure, and now tries to apply it to everything.

Does Marathon Deserve the Hate?

If we answer honestly — Marathon does have problems.

At the moment, Bungie is working on two major issues:

• Optimization problems, which affect some players
• UI/UX design, which many players find confusing

The developers have already promised improvements to the interface while also stating that they will not remove the distinctive "sauce" that defines Marathon’s visual identity.

However, some of the most common criticisms simply don’t reflect reality. For example, during Server Slam some players claimed that the game had too little PvP or that the faction system didn’t work. In reality, that isn’t true. Marathon features high time-to-kill (TTK) and frequent PvP encounters, which are often one of the most exciting aspects of the game.

From my own experience: after 30+ hours during Server Slam and another 15 hours after release, I had only two matches where I finished with fewer than three kills. One location that stands out is Dire Marsh, where a single firefight often attracts almost the entire server. So PvP definitely exists in the game. The real issue is that understanding the game’s pacing requires spending more time with it.

Why Bungie Asked Reviewers to Delay Reviews

Another controversial moment came when Bungie asked reviewers to delay their final reviews. For some members of the community, this looked like a panic button. But if you look closer, the decision actually makes sense.

On March 6, players gained access to a new map called Outpost, which provides a completely different gameplay experience compared to the starting locations. Many players have already responded very positively to it. Shortly after that, the Crio Archive event also launched, which appears to be an endgame location.

Considering that this content appeared almost immediately after release, asking reviewers to wait before publishing final verdicts seems entirely reasonable. The game is still evolving.

Main Goal of This Article

The goal of this article is not to convince everyone that Marathon is a perfect game. Because it isn’t. But the current wave of hate highlights a deeper issue within modern gaming culture.

Today, players increasingly form their opinions based on influencers rather than personal experience. Once a negative narrative begins gaining traction, it spreads far faster than any balanced discussion.

So is Marathon a failure? Definitely not. Does it have problems? Absolutely.

But most of the loudest accusations come from people who either barely played the game — or never played it at all. If you haven’t tried Marathon yet, or if you’ve only spent a few hours with it, try approaching it with an open mind and give it another chance.

It’s not ARC Raiders, and the game may not be for everyone. But it certainly deserves more than simply becoming the next "hate train" target.