""It was very coincidental that they had their test around the time we did. To my knowledge, I don't think any of us knew that was going to happen," he said. "It was a very great A/B test for us, because obviously they made decisions that we didn't, and vice versa. So we could kind of compare and contrast how some of those things shook out.""
""Marathon had an initial closed alpha test in late April that resulted in a smattering of issues, from an alleged toxic work culture at Bungie to stolen-art allegations to an indefinite delay out of its September 23 release date. Meanwhile, Arc Raiders had a successful playtest, raking in 189,668 concurrent players and dominating Steam's top 10 most-played games during that "server slam" weekend.""
""For Watkins, the disparity between Arc Raiders and Marathon provided Embark Studios the chance to learn about the genre, player expectations, and the game the team is building. Of course, Watkins isn't dragging Marathon despite it not receiving a warm welcome from Bungie and extraction shooter fans. Instead, he's rooting for the Destiny makers, saying Marathon's art style is "evocative" and that he wants to see more from Bungie.""
Arc Raiders launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 30 after a successful "server slam" playtest from October 17–19 that reached 189,668 concurrent players and topped Steam's most-played list. Bungie's Marathon ran its own closed alpha in late April and encountered issues including alleged toxic work-culture claims, stolen-art allegations, and an indefinite delay from its planned September 23 release. Embark's design director Virgil Watkins described the coincidence of overlapping tests as an effective A/B comparison of divergent design decisions and player reception, offering lessons about the extraction-shooter genre, player expectations, and choices for future development. Watkins praised Marathon's evocative art style and expressed curiosity about its outcome.
Read at GameSpot
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