Sony Admits Marathon Underperformed as Wolverine Becomes PlayStation’s Biggest Priority

Marathon may not have become the massive live-service hit Sony hoped for, but the company believes the game still has a future while bigger titles like Wolverine prepare to take center stage.

Sony’s big live-service push has had a rocky ride lately, and Marathon has ended up right in the middle of it. But despite the mixed results, Sony isn’t pulling the plug on the game anytime soon. Instead, the company seems determined to keep supporting it, even while putting most of its confidence behind upcoming blockbuster titles like Marvel’s Wolverine and Saros.

Sony’s latest financial report revealed that Bungie and its current lineup failed to meet expectations. The company reportedly took an impairment loss of nearly $800 million tied to Bungie, a huge financial hit that underscores the pressure building behind the scenes.

That kind of number would normally make fans nervous about a game’s future. And honestly, many players already assumed Marathon might quietly fade away after launch. The game didn’t dominate the market the way Sony likely hoped, and reports about player counts and development costs have raised plenty of questions over the past few months.

But the situation isn’t completely negative.

While Marathon may not be a runaway success, it has built a loyal player base that genuinely enjoys the game. Sony reportedly highlighted the title’s strong player reception, including positive Steam reviews and a solid Metacritic score. More importantly, the company pointed to strong engagement and retention numbers, indicating that many players who try the game keep coming back.

That matters more than people think. In today’s gaming industry, live-service games can disappear almost overnight if players lose interest. Marathon avoiding that fate is already a small win for Sony and Bungie. The audience may be smaller than expected, but it’s active, passionate, and still invested in the game’s future.

Sony now appears focused on improving the experience instead of abandoning it. The company plans to support Marathon with additional content updates, gameplay improvements, and efforts to attract new players over time. Rather than chasing instant success, Sony seems willing to play the long game here. Still, the company also made one thing very clear: Marathon is not the title expected to lead PlayStation’s future financially.

That spotlight is firmly aimed at Marvel's Wolverine and Saros.

Sony reportedly described both games as major first-party releases expected to help drive earnings in fiscal year 2026. And if there’s one project carrying enormous expectations right now, it’s definitely Wolverine.

There’s already huge hype surrounding the game thanks to Marvel’s popularity and the reputation of Insomniac Games after the success of Spider-Man. For many fans, Wolverine feels like the kind of cinematic blockbuster PlayStation has built its reputation on for years.

At the same time, Saros gives Sony another ambitious single-player experience from Housemarque, showing that the company still believes strongly in story-driven exclusives alongside its multiplayer ambitions. And maybe that’s the bigger takeaway from all of this. Sony isn’t walking away from live-service games entirely, but it seems more cautious now. Marathon still has support, still has players, and still has a chance to grow.

But when it comes to the games Sony truly expects to carry the brand forward, Wolverine is clearly standing at the front of the line. The big question now is whether Marathon can slowly evolve into a comeback story — or if it will always live in the shadow of the giant games surrounding it.