Marathon’s former art director thinks ‘it will pan out’ for Bungie’s upcoming shooter
Bungie’s former Marathon art director has defended the extraction shooter’s bold visual direction, saying he remains confident the game will ultimately succeed despite scepticism and controversy ahead of its March launch.
Marathon’s former art director Joseph Cross belives “it will pan out” for Bungie’s upcoming shooter.
Cross - who recently departed Bungie after more than a decade at the studio - has spoken positively about the project just months ahead of its planned March launch.
Cross served as Marathon’s art director and left the studio in late 2025, a move that raised eyebrows given the timing and the pressure surrounding Bungie’s next major release.
In an interview, Cross acknowledged the noise around Marathon - from doubts about its gameplay loop to criticism of its bold, stylised art direction - but said he remains proud of the work his team delivered.
He said: “I believe in what we’ve done. I think we did something really cool, and I think it will pan out.
“I can’t control the way the game plays. I’m not a designer. I’m not the game director. I can only control what I can control, and what I could control, I feel really good about.”
While he stressed that he wasn’t responsible for design or balance decisions, Cross said he stands firmly behind the visual identity he helped shape.
Marathon marks Bungie’s attempt to push into the extraction shooter space, a genre dominated by more grounded, realism-driven titles such as Escape from Tarkov.
Bungie’s take leans heavily into sci-fi aesthetics and colour-forward world design, a choice that has divided opinion among fans who associate extraction shooters with military grit.
Cross admitted he was “bummed” by some of the online backlash, particularly debates over whether the art style fits the genre at all.
However, he framed that tension as inevitable when studios try to evolve established formulas rather than replicate them.
