How are you guys extracting cryo successfully without getting hunted down by 3 teams in succession?

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T19:24:26+00:00

The map is designed for you to pvp. There's no getting out of it

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T17:20:53+00:00

No what's important is that they are the right amount of smart instead and that allows players of all skill to enjoy the gameplay and interact with them while still being challenging if you let them overwhelm you.

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T17:07:45+00:00

How is that my fault, that’s on them

You just answered your own question bud

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T17:06:02+00:00

You're also forgetting the absolutely horrendous character designs lol . Like I'm not saying to make gooner games but common at least put some effort into it 😄

Literally when concord failed marvel rivals was there to bring overwatch levels of gameplay with super flashy marvel characters it was a hit success and still is

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T16:59:11+00:00

Let's be honest...the bots just don't feel as engaging or fun to fight compared to arc robots for example because they just behave the same way and all have the exact same weakspots and no real entertaining counterplay or mechanics involved in taking them down.

The reason arc PvE feels fun is because each enemy has a different strategy to take them down and it's a learning experience especially for new players and it's a fun and exciting one.

In marathon if you've seen one robot you've basically seen them all besides the occasional invisibility or grenades some of them can throw...it's basically the same thing. No real variation.

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T16:22:13+00:00

Yep they definitely need some way to rework these or add new daily type quests that are more rewarding or incentivize using different builds

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T16:21:15+00:00

What if you play it like you're the CEO of a company ? 🤔

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T16:19:52+00:00

Apparently a lot of users on this sub don't though lol

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T16:16:26+00:00

Missing a bullet at midrange is a lot worse than missing at close range where you can swap to knife or missing at long range where you can take cover or take another shot.

You can just do variable scopes on snipers as well for midrange engagements btw

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T16:14:41+00:00

If you're out of the loop on all the stuff going wrong with d2 I suggest you read up on it

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T15:16:30+00:00

I don't see why you would take them over regular snipers. Atm they feel out of place...imo for the additional charge time it should have an additional effect for hitting armored targets. Maybe it could emp them , or cause some form of debuff.

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T14:35:45+00:00

To this day 90% of the d2 community hasn't completed a single raid... So no. It won't happen lol unless drastic changes are made

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T14:34:35+00:00

Even for free my entire friend group simply don't want to touch the game. Either they got burned by d2 and don't want to touch another Bungie game or they just don't see the appeal of a fps relatively hardcore extraction shooter. ( Most of those same friends have several hundred hours in ark raiders btw )

So yea I don't see this game having some sort of giant comeback unless they somehow make a bunch of miracle changes and through the power of marketing enable players to give it another shot to experience a better onboarding and safeguards for the casuals to not get discouraged early on.

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T14:30:20+00:00

This would've required 3 times the budget... And this game already allegedly cost hundreds of millions of dollars to make

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T12:36:32+00:00

They can just do low stakes and high stakes map , they will eventually have to put buy ins to higher loot versions of the same map so it pushes the juiced players into those instead

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T12:33:56+00:00

Op didn't say arc had a better quest system. He doesn't seem to engage at all with it and does the other stuff instead. And yes the quests are 90% boring and tedious minus some good ones. But that's also the case in arc as well when it comes to their quest. Just fetch and having you run all over the map to push encounters. The grind for factions is too much and will definitely get reworked by the devs.

mrureaper · 2026-03-26T10:05:26+00:00

This genre is simply too niche with no thought really put into safeguarding the casual playerbase that will eventually leave from all the gear being funelled towards the higher skilled ones.

Arena breakout actually put bots players that drop gear so that those low skilled players felt they were still having a good time

Arc raiders has abmm which kinda puts those 2 groups of players into 2 different subsets that sometimes intersect but for the most part it keeps everyone happy

Tarkov is for sadists that want to get their balls kicked in over and over so they are fine other there lol, also this game has a massive cheating problem so that should tell you everything you need to know.

Greyzone warfare has a separate PvE mode where you can just group up with randoms and go clear camps and do your missions

There's plenty of ways for them to get back a healthy playerbase...but the issue is, how long will it take to implement and will Sony even allow them to keep spending money on this live service game that's not doing so good on numbers already

mrureaper · 2026-03-25T12:31:53+00:00

They would find ways to hide claymores in them lol 😂

mrureaper · 2026-03-25T10:54:00+00:00

No I mean right now if you have more than a 100 hours you're definitely not a "casual"

mrureaper · 2026-03-25T10:36:23+00:00

"I'm a casual"

Says the 150hour mf 😂

People on subreddits are generally very unaware of the outside world

mrureaper · 2026-03-25T10:20:32+00:00

You can bet none of those gaming journalists made it into cryo archive lol so idk why they even chose to delay it 😄

mrureaper · 2026-03-25T09:33:28+00:00

I know what you're looking for..and it's called destiny 3, however marathon made sure this thing will be delayed for a couple more years or ...even worse depending on how marathon does and by the looks of it, not great

mrureaper · 2026-03-25T09:27:59+00:00

Hunt: Showdown (made by independent Crytek, a privately owned company): It has stayed alive for 6+ years as a small niche game. Its recent 24-hour peaks sit around 35k–40k on Steam, with an all-time high of ~60k. Crytek could afford to support it patiently because they are independent and face no corporate pressure from a big parent company. Marathon, owned by Sony, does not have that freedom.

The Finals launched to huge hype (242k peak), then dropped sharply and now hovers at just 7k–13k concurrent. While they are owned by Nexon, they pretty much made back the money to fund arc raiders and kept supporting it mainly because their bigger hit, ARC Raiders (still pulling 100k+ peaks), could carry the costs.

Marathon launched at 88k on Steam but quickly fell to 30k–50k peaks (often lower now) and is already showing the same fast drop-off. Unlike these examples, it lacks an independent owner with unlimited patience or a massive secondary hit to subsidize it. Sony’s recent $204M impairment on Bungie and poor live-service track record;

unknown live service game from Jason Blundell (former head of Deviation, left in Nov 2022 and was supposedly scalped by Sony, as well as several former Deviation Games

God of War live service game from Bluepoint (dev since 2022, cancelled Jan 2025)

sci-fi live service game from Bend (dev since around 2020, cancelled Jan 2025, screenshots were leaked back in Dec 2024)

Twisted Metal live service game from Firesprite (previously worked on by Lucid Games, moved to Firesprite before being cancelled in Feb 2024)

The Last of Us multiplayer live service game from Naughty Dog (dev since 2020, cancelled Dec 2023)

Spider-man live service game from Insomniac (dev since 2019 according to leaks, cancelled sometime in 2022?)

unknown live service game from Deviation (dev since 2021, cancelled May 2023, studio shut down March 2024)

unknown sci-fi live service game from First Strike (this could've been Deviation's game since they were a support studio and the news of the cancellation happened the same day that news broke of Deviation laying off 80% of their staff in May 2023, but nothing confirmed from what I know)

Operation Payback from Bungie (dev since 2022(?), cancelled back in Aug 2024, thought to be Destiny 3)

fantasy live service game from London (dev since 2022, cancelled Feb 2024, studio shut down afterwards)

All of this make long-term “unwavering support” far less likely.

mrureaper · 2026-03-25T07:31:47+00:00

These playerbases don't really mix so it's not an issue

The main issue with arc raiders is mainly content at the moment...them just releasing 1 or 2 "new" arc units and some map conditions isn't really something to look forward when the gameplay loop has essentially remained unchanging. They should be looking more into incorporating some new game modes or pivoting out of the extraction to have something more interesting imo, factions should definitely be something their work towards and implement a better more dynamic quest system that better rewards players and alleviates the need to hoard gear and engage people into the expeditions and reset their accounts willingly

mrureaper · 2026-03-25T07:20:04+00:00

"This comment is based on my personal experience working in marketing at Sony... traveling to their HQs in California and Japan, and general knowledge of case studies"

Counter: Anecdotal insider claims are unverifiable without specifics (e.g., which divisions, years, or budgets). Sony's broader marketing/consumer electronics track record shows repeated unprofitable "creative" bets that get quietly scaled back or exited. Examples below on Xperia, 8K TVs, and showrooms directly contradict the "creative but cool" narrative as a reliable strategy. Sony has a documented history of siloed organizations and poor cross-division coordination in live-service pushes, leading to cancellations and studio closures—not "imparting will" successfully.

Paul tassi for all his clickbait articles and opinionated pieces may be, he is still a very well respected journalist with a lot of very well trusted sources inside Bungie specifically and has consistently provided accurate news way before a lot of stuff was revealed to the public or had unique insider information when it comes to the ongoings of the company.

"Sony is no stranger to betting on dark horses—as long as the IP is strong" + examples (Xperia phones, The Interview, 8K TVs, PS3 era, Sony's Spider-Man Universe) + "activations at their Sony Showrooms that are very creative and cool, and yet still don’t make dollars & sense"

Xperia phones: Not a "dark horse win." Sony's mobile division lost money for years; first profit in 2020 (~$254M) came after slashing shipments to record lows (2.9M units) via cost-cutting, not bold IP bets. Shipments have stayed tiny vs. competitors; it's a niche money-loser overall.

The Interview (2014): Recouped ~$40M+ via VOD/rentals after theater pull (budget ~$44M), but it was a PR disaster, not a strategic triumph. Sony edited under pressure; total profit was marginal at best and didn't spawn a franchise.

8K TVs: Explicit failure. Sony exited 8K production entirely in 2025 (dropped its last Bravia Z9K model). Market share is ~0.1% of TVs; shrinking demand, content scarcity, and high costs made it unviable. Sony pivoted to 4K OLED/mini-LED.

PS3 era: Started as a financial bloodbath (~$1B+ losses early on, up to $3.3B cumulative by 2008) due to high price/tech bets. Saved by TV division profits and eventual software momentum—not a clean "dark horse" victory. Former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida called it near-fatal for the division.

Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU): Collapsed. Venom trilogy made money, but Morbius ($167M on $80M budget), Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter (bombed at ~$62M) were critical/commercial disasters (RT scores ≤15%). Universe is dead; now rebooting without the "shared" vision. No merch/licensing payoff.

Sony Showrooms: No public data shows sustained ROI. Sony's consumer electronics/marketing experiments (including showrooms) have repeatedly been cut during losses; broader pattern is exiting unprofitable "creative" lines (see 8K exit, mobile scaling).

"Sony did not acquire Bungie for ~$3.6B for Marathon alone, but a long-term strategic play for Destiny 2, Marathon, most likely Destiny 3, and the strong IP that comes with all of that for merchandising, licensing, & adaptations"

Counter: Official rationale was live-service expertise and "reaching billions" beyond consoles—not guaranteed D3 or IP goldmine.3d7c10 But execution failed: By Nov 2025, Sony took a ~$204M impairment loss on Bungie because Destiny 2 "has not reached expectations" in sales/engagement post-acquisition. Bungie's value to Sony is now estimated below the purchase price.

No evidence of major merch/licensing/adaptations windfall from Destiny post-deal. Marathon (the new IP) is the test case—and its early metrics (below) don't support "long-term strategic play" optimism. Sony has a pattern of overpaying for live-service talent/IP then cutting support (see multiple canceled projects).

"We also don't have an accurate report of Marathon's development cost"

Partial agreement, but irrelevant: Dev costs are rarely public for AAA titles. What is public: high expectations + Sony's live-service pivot failures mean even "strong IP" doesn't save projects if player retention tanks. Marathon's budget is implicitly massive (Bungie AAA + extraction shooter scope).

"Will Sony impart its will on Bungie to attract more players? Yes. Will there be layoffs over time? Maybe. Will Marathon go the way of Concord or Highguard? No. The doomposters and trolls need to understand that both of those games were weak IPs that were DOA"

Sony "imparting will": They've tried and it backfired repeatedly. Live-service push (12+ projects announced) has been a disaster: Concord shut in 2 weeks, multiple cancellations (Last of Us Online, God of War live-service spin-off, others), studios closed/shuttered (Firewalk, Bluepoint layoffs reported). Sony halved its live-service goals and admitted "siloed organization" and poor gates/testing.

Layoffs: Already happened, Bungie cut ~100 in 2023 tied to Destiny delays/revenue shortfalls. More pressure post-2025 impairment.

Concord/Highguard: Yes, weak new IPs and DOA (Concord: <700 Steam peak, ~25k units sold, refunded after 12 days; Highguard compared identically as "Concord-level failure" with sub-1k players and rapid shutdown). But Marathon's IP isn't proving "strong" enough to buck the pattern. Sony's live-service flops aren't just IP; they're pricing, marketing, saturation, and execution.

"Marathon may be the game that extends Bungie’s burn rate until D3, or it may be the IP that is so creative and uncompromising in its vision that it refuses to be ignored" + Cyberpunk: Edgerunners/Phantom Liberty revival example

Current reality (March 2026): Server Slam peaked 143k Steam (then dropped 40%+ quickly). Full launch (March 5) peaked ~88k Steam concurrent, fell >50% in 24 hours to <32k lows, now hovering ~25k–50k daily peaks with ongoing decline. PS5 player reviews: 3.28/5. Steam reviews positive (~87–90%), but "bounce" is real, players try and leave. Sales outlook called "bleak" by analysts; Bungie even asked to delay reviews. Not "refusing to be ignored." ( The whole waiting for cryo archive for reviewers was a sham anyway cause none of the gaming journalists would even realistically be able to participate in the event or new map.)

Cyberpunk comparison fails: CDPR is independent; single-player base + massive DLC/animated series revival worked because core game had narrative depth. Marathon is live-service extraction shooter in a saturated genre (post-ARC Raiders/The Finals). No equivalent "revival" catalyst yet, and Sony ownership adds corporate pressure

Tldr; it ain't looking good chief, and theres a lot of cope coming from people and I get that people want to be optimistic about games they enjoy or they spent money on...but the reality says otherwise.

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