According to well-connected Bungie beat reporter Paul Tassi, the Sony studio has placed massive expectations on Marathon.

Speaking as part of a video in which he outlines all the problems facing the upcoming extraction shooter, he said that heard the game “needed to be in the top five of NPD sales for the year if it’s going to be a success or considered a success”.

We assume Tassi is referring to Circana, formerly known as NPD, which ranks the best-selling games in the US based on both retail and digital data. In 2024, the top five best-selling games as ranked by revenue were Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, EA Sports College Football 25, Helldivers 2, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, and NBA 2K25.

Obviously, there are some absolutely enormous names on that list, but Helldivers 2 proved Sony is capable of breakout live service success stories. The problem is that Marathon doesn’t have anywhere near the same level of enthusiasm around it right now.

One advantage the extraction shooter may have is that it’s launching day-and-date across all platforms, including PS5, Xbox, and PC. But many have already complained about its $40 price point, so it’s unclear how many people are actually going to show up to pay for the game when it deploys in September.