The first video game developed and released by Bungie was the sci-fi first-person shooter Marathon for Apple Macintosh computers in 1994 and later for Windows. Today, that first game is available to download and play for free via Valve's Steam service.
Today, we're thrilled to announce that the Aleph One community is bringing the original 1994-1996 Marathon Trilogy to Steam starting with Marathon 1.
— Bungie (@Bungie) May 10, 2024
Thank you to the Marathon community for your support over the years. We couldn't do it without you.
💾 https://t.co/pDtf6VWqwY pic.twitter.com/Z2f0b3hnww
Bungie announced the release of the game today on its X (formerly Twitter) account. This version of Marathon uses the open-source engine Aleph One, which was developed after Bungie released the game's source code in 1999. The game's art assets were released by Bungie as freeware in 2005.
For its Steam launch, Aleph One lets gamers play Marathon with the original data file. However, they can also play with some more modern options, including " widescreen HUD support, 3D filtering/perspective, positional audio, and 60+ fps interpolation". This version also has 12 Steam achievements to unlock. Steam also lists Classic Marathon 2 and Classic Marathon Infinity as "coming soon."
After the Marathon game trilogy, Bungie went on to create and release the first several games in the Halo sci-fi shooter series for Microsoft. It then moved on to yet another sci-fi shooter series in Destiny and Destiny 2. A new expansion pack for Destiny 2, The Final Shape, is due in just a few weeks on June 4.
In May 2023, Bungie announced it would release a reboot of sorts to the Marathon series. This game will be a "sci-fi PvP extraction shooter" for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. No release date for the Marathon reboot has been announced.
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