Marathon Dodged The PSN Requirement Bullet

Bungie is getting ready for a big launch with Marathon, its first major release since being taken over by Sony. Given Bungie's past on Halo and Destiny, there will be high expectations, and this release might make a name for the studio and Sony. Despite the success of Helldivers 2, Sony is still looking for a breakthrough in the live-service industry, and Marathon might be its best chance.

One of the main topics going up to the game's big announcement this week is its cross-platform approach. Unlike its previous games, Marathon will launch on Xbox Series X|S and PC on day one, following Sony's original promise to keep Bungie's games non-exclusive.

However, that brought up an important question: will players on Xbox and PC need a PlayStation Network (PSN) account to play? Bungie quickly answered the rumors through a Discord post, and the company revealed that Marathon would not require a PSN account on PC or Xbox. Instead, players only need to have a Bungie account for the cross-play and cross-save features. But that still seems like an unnecessary step for a few, too.

This decision may be a lesson learned from the Helldivers 2 mess, when Sony had planned to require a PSN login but delayed it due to technical issues. There was quite a fuss when the condition was finally introduced since many gamers thought it was unnecessary.

Sony seems to be letting off attitude with Marathon by letting Bungie handle things their way because of their previous struggles. When the big reveal happens this Saturday, all eyes will be on Bungie. Will Marathon be the next big live-service hit-or-fail expectation? Either way, the gaming community is ready, and it will be interesting to see how they serve.