Bungie’s new game, Marathon, won’t have any kind of proximity chat due to concerns of toxic players. Online gaming is considered a pretty toxic environment, though some see that as part of the appeal. Some players like a space where they can trash talk and have heated conversations with other players. Of course, this isn’t for everyone and some people don’t even entertain it. A lot of people grew up on the toxic lobbies of Halo, Call of Duty, and other online competitive shooters, especially since a lot of these games would force players into game chat to communicate with other players and toxic chatter would largely go unpunished.
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However, things have evolved quite a bit in the last 15 years or so. All games can be played with some kind of private chat whether that be through parties or Discord servers. A lot of games like Call of Duty are now cracking down on toxic in-game chat, even going as far as using AI to monitor conversations and punish those who take things too far. Still, there are some who enjoy in-game chat, especially in things like battle royale games or extraction shooters. These kinds of games utilize proximity chat, only letting you hear people who are near you. This opens up the game to some really unique situations, such as letting players talk their way out of a conflict, trade gear or information, and so on. Of course, it can also be used to troll, but it does add a new layer to the game.
Marathon Won’t Have Proximity Chat
The first gameplay of Marathon was recently revealed and while reactions are a bit mixed, it seems like a game that could have a big moment upon release. However, there is one big piece of news that is causing some division. Marathon won’t feature any kind of proximity chat as Bungie doesn’t believe there is a way to safely integrate it. This has led to a lot of frustration from people looking forward to the game. Marathon game director Joe Ziegler told PC Gamer that the studio is open to the idea of proximity chat, but at this moment in time, does not feel comfortable with it opening up the game to toxicity and has no way of mitigating it right now.
“When it comes to prox chat, I don’t think we’re against the experience of it, to be fair,” said Ziegler. “I think the challenge is how to make sure we’re creating a safe environment for players inside of that space. I don’t think anyone really has a good solution to that just yet. Because we’re so dedicated to making sure that we’re creating a safe space where we don’t have players just flaming each other or doing terrible things to one another, I think we’re not ready to invest in prox chat until we have a solution.”
Of course, the solution to this problem would be to have an on and off toggle in Marathon. It would be great to let players opt-in and out of proximity chat, but that doesn’t necessarily stop players who still want to talk to other be free of being harassed. Given the vocal response from fans already, it’s possible Bungie will reconsider this. A Marathon alpha test is going to be released soon, allowing fans the chance to play the game before release. It’s possible a proximity chat feature will be a big piece of feedback from Bungie. It’s also not unlikely that a feature like this will be put into the game after its release, but it would be disappointing if there was no proximity chat at launch.
What do you think about the lack of proximity chat in an extraction shooter like Marathon? Let me know in the comments!
