Bungie Wants Marathon To Be a ‘Social Extraction Experience’ But The Game Doesn’t Have Proximity Chat

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Although Bungie’s Marathon developers aim for the game to offer a ‘social extraction experience’, it has been verified that it won’t feature proximity chat.

In a recent conversation with PCGamer, game director Joe Ziegler shared that they haven’t found a way to address the harmful interactions (toxicity) associated with proximity chat among players, as of now.

He mentioned that there’s no satisfactory answer to this issue at the moment. Given our commitment to maintaining a friendly and respectful environment for players by preventing abusive behavior, he believes it’s premature to implement a prox chat feature until a suitable solution is found.

So Its Not a Social Extraction Experience?

In our joint interview with Jake Lucky, I found myself captivated by Joe Ziegler’s words when he described their vision for the game as more of a “social immersion experience”. This intriguing perspective has me even more excited about the upcoming release!

Ziegler elaborated, “Our main focus was turning Marathon into a more socially engaging extraction experience. The value here lies in playing with friends or acquaintances, creating an adventure jointly, rather than constantly dividing you all up.

As a devoted admirer, I’d like to share my take on an intriguing point Ziegler made in the interview: rather than merely spectating as my teammates wrap up a match, t

It seems like an important issue is being overlooked here, as the conflicting opinions are a bit puzzling. The addition of proximity chat to games significantly enhances the social experience, and while I can appreciate Bungie’s concerns about toxicity, it seems reasonable that players who prefer not to use proximity chat could simply disable it, right? An even better approach might be to equip players with the ability to report others for inappropriate behavior. These suggestions are not novel, but when implemented effectively through moderation, they could be the key to resolving Bungie’s concerns.

At the end of the day, you’re never going to stop people from being toxic, no matter what you do.

As a gamer, let me tell you, it feels like Bungie’s really off target when they don’t incorporate proximity chat in their extraction shooters. It’s not just about enhancing the fun and excitement, but it’s almost essential for that ‘social extraction shooter’ tag they’ve given themselves. Honestly, without it, the social aspect seems more like a joke than a feature.

Marathon is set to be released on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on September 23, 2025.

What are your thoughts on Bungie omitting proximity chat in Marathon? Feel free to share your opinions on TopMob forum, or write them down as comments here.

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2025-04-13 14:18