“The Greatest Hits of ’90s Futurism” — Bungie Reveals What Inspired the Creation of Marathon

The upcoming action game Marathon was conceived as a reimagining of late-1990s and early-2000s futurism — with its club aesthetics, neon colors, and aggressive visual style. This was revealed by Bungie’s Global Franchise Director Philip Asher during a discussion on X (Twitter) with Larian’s Publishing Director Michael Douse.

Douse noted that Marathon strongly evokes the PlayStation UK era of the 1990s and 2000s — a time when Sony’s advertising heavily leaned into club culture, bold colors, and a sense of speed. According to him, this was meant as a compliment, and Bungie fully agreed with the comparison.

Asher placed special emphasis on the Mental Wealth commercial — one of the strangest and most memorable PlayStation videos of the late 1990s. It featured an actress with a distorted, almost alien-looking face, speaking about freedom of thought and rejecting imposed notions of progress. According to journalists, it is precisely this kind of “wild” and abstract aesthetic that best explains Marathon’s overall tone.

As Bungie prepares for release, the game is increasingly perceived not just as another extraction shooter, but as a stylistic collage of past ideas filtered through modern design. If the developers truly manage to capture the spirit of that era, Marathon may stand out not through mechanics, but through atmosphere — the very quality that PlayStation’s late-1990s identity is still remembered for. The shooter has frequently faced criticism from players, ranging from its gameplay to complaints about asset reuse.

Previously, the developers showcased a trailer dedicated to the “Assassin” character — a class focused on stealth and silent kills.