With Destiny 2 on ice and Marathon undergoing a major pivot, wild rumors about a future in which both of Bungie’s sci-fi franchises become part of a shared universe briefly took root in the imaginations of fans. But it didn’t take the studio long to pour cold water on the unsubstantiated “leaks” that were going viral on Reddit.
Earlier this week, a rumor sourced from 4chan gained attention in the Marathon community. It read like a toddler’s Christmas list full of wishful thinking occasionally interrupted by confusing non sequiturs. Biggest among its claims was that with Destiny 3 not in development and Bungie all-in on trying to resurrect Marathon‘s fortunes, the two in-game universes might be merged into a single IP.
“There has been some vague testing the waters internally to rework Marathon and Destiny into a single IP with Marathon representing the beginning of Mankinds Golden Age and to foreshadow more threats to be used in a future Destiny project,” the alleged leaker claimed. While an intriguing possibility for lore nerds, the theory was quickly shot down by Marathon‘s creative director.
“As someone who’s worked on both Destiny and Marathon, I can confirm that the ‘leak’ about us merging the two IPs is fake,” Bungie’s Julia Nardin shared on X. “They share a lot of the same Bungie DNA, but like siblings they’re also their own independent entities. Please don’t believe everything you read online.”
Even before the studio’s official denial, Destiny 2 experts had picked apart the flaws in the idea. “Destiny‘s Golden Age was a time of abundance, Marathon‘s history is defined by scarcity and famine,” wrote “Lore Daddy” My Name Is Byf, who called a potential merging a “terrible idea.” “The appearance of The Traveller being omitted from all Marathon‘s lore would be a massive elephant in the room.”
But it’s not hard to understand why some might want to believe the rumor in the first place. Destiny had over a decade of storytelling behind it, with rich backstories covering many centuries, dozens of worlds, and multiple, ancient alien races. Having no new content coming to Destiny 2, and no current plans for a spin-off or sequel, is a tough pill for many fans to swallow.
“We just want Destiny back,” one wrote in response to Nardin.