Marathon surprisingly jumps into Steam’s top five global best-sellers, excluding free-to-play titles

Marathon seems to have a bright future ahead of it after all, as it soars into Steam’s best-selling titles. If the Steam Deck and free-to-play games are excluded, then Marathon holds the fifth spot, placing it in league with heavy-hitters like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and a discounted EA Sports FC 26.

The top spot, unsurprisingly, still belongs to ARC Raiders, which is outselling just about everyone. However, it has the advantage of actually being out, with Marathon only recently receiving a March 5 release date. If that alone is taken into consideration, then it’s the best-selling pre-order on Steam, a major achievement for a game that ran so many hurdles on its way to release.

Over the past couple of months, however, Marathon has been shaping up a lot better, with the devs releasing new footage and images that show major improvements over its first few alpha tests. Progress is thus quite evident, and it has to be good because players are obviously eating it up. Its neon aesthetics and punchy combat seem to have landed perfectly with some, driving these early sales up.

Whether or not that’ll translate into huge sales post-launch remains to be seen, but it’s undeniable that Marathon already has a spot under the sun without even being out yet. ARC Raiders has spent its time alone on the market carving out a position for itself, but Marathon‘s latest versions appear genuinely different enough for that not to make that much of a difference.

Still, on account of both being extraction shooters, there is bound to be some overlap, though if Bungie’s latest title can stand out as a unique experience, then it may have a good chance of living up to fan expectations and thriving post-release.

I already tried to figure out if Marathon, even in its upgraded form, could last for long in an ARC Raiders world, but I never anticipated the game to resonate with so many players already.

That throws some shade on my arguments, to be completely frank, and I’m now eager to see where things will go from March 5.

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Upcoming title Bladesong could become the next unique adventure for you in January when the game goes live on PC.

While there have been plenty of games where we get to wield a sword, Bladesong requires you to make them instead. This guide will help you stay on top of the upcoming launch so you can jump in at minute one.

Bladesong release countdown

Bladesong will be released on Jan. 22 worldwide, and it’s exclusively available on PC. The following countdown will expire once the launch goes live.

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The countdown is based on the following timings.

• 6am PT
• 8am CT
• 9am ET
• 2pm UTC
• 3pm CET

The information available here is from SteamDB. If there’s any change in the schedule, the updated timings will be added to this guide.

What to expect from Bladesong

If you’ve been playing video games for as many years as I have, you must have used plenty of swords. In Bladesong, you can craft swords without any limits. Thanks to its modular crafting system, you can craft a sword of any design, shape, and size.

With warriors and nobles seeking your services, you’ll have to meet specific needs and expectations. Making a sword will be easy, but giving it shape and turning it into a masterpiece won’t be so simple. You’ll also have to discover secrets in Eren Keep as you spend most of your time smithing the next perfect sword.

There’s a Campaign mode available for those who want to enjoy a narrative journey. Alternatively, you can simply try out your imagination in the Creative mode. If you want to check out the core gameplay, a free demo is available on Steam.

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