REPORT: Marathon's Director, Joe Ziegler, Announces Departure From Bungie
Bungie's extraction shooter seems to be hanging on by a thread
"ColonelFancy" Mike Lind
7/19/20262 min read
Ziegler parts ways with Bungie
Del Chaffe III and Julia Nardin take over
Tumultuous times remain in effect for Marathon. Not too long after the news of layoffs hitting the studio and the shuttering the work on Destiny 2, Bungie's director Joe Ziegler has announced he is quitting to pursue other interests. The news came via a lengthy post on his social media account:
Hey everyone I've got a bit of an announcement to make. Today, Friday 7/17, will be my last day at Bungie and I'll be passing the torch of Game Director to the very capable and amazing hands of Del Chafe III, who will guide the game forward alongside the Creative Director Julia Nardin.
Both of them have been operating in a strong leadership capacity for the team and are ready to guide Marathon into the next chapter with an even better and brighter future. I'm proud of them and I'm excited to see them helm the future of this crazy little world we've created together. As for me, I'll be heading to something new, somewhere else, and will update you on where and what soon.
News like this could not have come at a worst time for Marathon or Bungie. Following a lengthy and troubling development cycle, Marathon saw a paltry launch with sales expectations far below what Sony had anticipated. Combining this with Destiny 2 underperforming, many of the staff was cut from the destiny team to focus on Marathon. Bungie intends on experimenting with a new PvE mode at the beginning of next week, with the full version to roll out in September.
Despite the game being met with positive reviews, player retention has been a problem. In May of 2026, Sony announced they were taking $765 million in impairment losses. The development of Marathon has cost Sony over $250 million, which begs the question as to why Sony opted to buy Bungie for $3.6 billion in 2022. It is too late for fortunes to turn around for Marathon? It's looking incredibly bleak, and a strong case of sunk cost fallacy.