Elias Toufexis, a veteran video game voice actor, has addressed the online hostility aimed at Marathon. This follows the move by developer Bungie to focus on the new title instead of Destiny 2.
In an interview with PC Gamer prior to the recent announcement regarding the end of Destiny 2 support, Toufexis discussed the situation. He provides the voice for the Assassin character in Marathon. He recognised the view held by some fans that Destiny 2 was allowed to decline so the extraction shooter could succeed.
Toufexis noted the reaction to the shift in focus. He said:
“I understand Bungie made a game, Destiny 2, that people loved, and then they kind of were like, ‘We’re gonna put that on hold and we’re gonna work on Marathon,'”
He added:
“People got upset about that. Cool, don’t play Marathon. That’s fine, speak with your wallet, that’s fine.”
Despite understanding the frustration, the actor drew a line at the behaviour of some critics. He stated he did not agree with those whose criticisms of Bungie and Marathon had evolved into personal hate. This negativity was often spread by social media accounts posting constant negative content.
Toufexis urged people to reconsider their online habits. He said:
“Life is so short, man. Just stop tweeting memes under things for six hours,”
He continued:
“Critique the game? Critique my work? Totally acceptable. But there’s people that go on Twitter and post memes: ‘This is Concord 2, this is Concord 2.’ Why are you spending hours doing this… How do you hope something fails?”
The reference here is to the PlayStation live-service shooter Concord. Sony released this title in 2024 and cancelled it within a few weeks. There is no indication that Marathon faces a similar outcome soon. Bungie’s choice to concentrate on it rather than Destiny 2 and start developing PVE content indicates the game has a secured medium-term future. Concerns regarding layoffs and the studio’s overall future remain.
Toufexis is widely recognised for voicing Adam Jensen, the protagonist in Deus Ex. He has performed dozens of video game roles over the years. He also held minor roles in Star Trek: Discovery. Similar to Discovery, some of the backlash directed at Marathon accused the game of being “DEI/woke”. Toufexis pushed back against this claim.
He described his recent experience dealing with the online reaction. He said:
“I was working on Marathon yesterday, and I was like, ‘Guys, tell me to stop engaging on X,’ because I keep engaging and I really shouldn’t,'”
He noted seeing comments from individuals hoping for failure. He said:
“I saw some guy, I don’t want to get into specifics, but they’re just like, ‘I hope Bungie fails because of the woke leftist ideology.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m working with four white guys and two white women. I don’t understand this. Where are you getting this?'”
Toufexis concluded his thoughts on the matter. He said:
“People just want to hate,” he concluded. “I don’t really understand it. It’s sad more than anything.”
As the situation regarding Destiny 2 stabilises, the community has started saying goodbye to the franchise. Reports indicate that the vast majority of Bungie staff did not know about plans to discontinue support until the public announcement.
Following the news, fans used the Marathon Steam page to express frustration through negative reviews. Others have started a positive countercampaign to combat these reviews. There is also an online petition asking Sony to approve the development of Destiny 3. This petition has received more than 200,000 responses. There is currently no sign of a future for Destiny in the works.
