G'day Gamers,

Christmas week means very few new releases, which makes it a good time to chip away at the backlog. Before that, there's one piece of news worth catching up on.

Bungie has had a rough year. Layoffs, delays, an art theft scandal, and an alpha test that went badly enough to derail a planned launch. This week, they finally locked in a release date for Marathon.

Let's get into it.

Bungie announced that Marathon will launch in March 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, priced at $40 USD. The game has been delayed for more than eighteen months following a difficult development cycle that included mass layoffs, leadership changes, and a public plagiarism dispute.

Marathon was announced in 2023 as an extraction shooter set in the universe of Bungie's 1990s Mac title. At the time, it was positioned as a clean break from Destiny 2 and the live-service model Bungie had spent a decade refining. Sony had just acquired the studio for $3.6 billion, and Marathon was expected to be the next pillar.

The trouble started in mid-2024. Bungie cut roughly 17% of its workforce, with senior leadership changes following shortly after. The studio was already stretched thin across Destiny 2 and Marathon, and the restructure signalled deeper problems than anyone outside the company realised.

The April 2025 alpha didn't land. Feedback focused on flat visuals, limited solo options, and systems that felt underdeveloped next to competitors. Bungie lifted the NDA mid-test and paused the project shortly after. Two months later, the September 2025 launch window was dropped entirely.

Then Scottish artist Fern Hook discovered her work had been used in-game without permission or credit. Bungie attributed the issue to a former employee, committed to a full asset audit, and later reached a settlement.

Since then, the landscape has shifted.

Arc Raiders launched earlier this year at the same $40 price point and found a large audience. The game reached hundreds of thousands of concurrent players on Steam, sold several million copies in its first month, and won Best Multiplayer Game at The Game Awards. It showed there is room for premium extraction shooters that aren't free-to-play.

Bungie is offering a similar structure, and the changes since the alpha suggest they actually listened. Solo queue and proximity chat are both in after players asked for them. A new "Rook" loadout lets you drop in with minimal gear if you just want a quick run without much on the line..

For players who grew up with Halo or spent years in Destiny, Bungie's reputation still carries weight.

For that reason, it’s one of my most anticipated games of 2025.

The Adelaide-based team behind Silksong isn’t slowing down after finally releasing their seven-year project. Team Cherry has announced Hollow Knight: Silksong – Sea of Sorrow, a nautically themed expansion arriving in 2026 and available free to everyone who owns the game. It adds new areas, bosses, and tools, expanding Pharloom further.

Silksong has now sold more than seven million copies, not including players accessing the game through Xbox Game Pass. Team Cherry also confirmed a Hollow Knight Nintendo Switch 2 Edition launching in 2026, featuring higher frame rates and enhanced visuals. The upgrade will be free for existing Switch owners.

Expedition 33 stripped of Indie Game Awards over AI use Sandfall confirmed using gen AI after telling organisers they hadn't. The AI debate isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Steam Deck LCD production is ending Valve is phasing out the $399 model. Once it's gone, OLED is your only option.

Halo trilogy remakes reportedly planned Insiders claim Halo 2 and 3 campaign remakes will follow Campaign Evolved.

Steam Awards voting is open If you aren’t tired of award season, make sure to cast your votes before Jan 3rd.

Steam Winter Sale now live This is one of the best sales you’ll see all year, time to expand that backlog.

Look, it's Christmas week. The release calendar is taking a well-deserved nap.

Did You Know? The original Legend of Zelda let you name your save file anything. If you named it "ZELDA" the game would skip straight to the harder second quest. Nintendo hid a cheat code in plain sight and most players never knew.

Next week, we will be diving into the year that was & casting our eyes to the most anticipated titles of 2026.

Till next time,

The Save File