Released: March 5th, 2026
Studio: Bungie
Platforms: PC, Xbox series X/S, Playstation 5
Description: Step into the shoes of cybernetic mercenaries called “Runners” to infiltrate and explore the lost colony of Tau Ceti IV, scavenging valuable loot in a high-stakes survival first person shooter from the creators of Halo and Destiny.
Responsibilities: Systems and content designer of the contracts system
Contracts
The contracts system is the method by which marathon’s factions directly interact with the player character, giving them a variety of jobs.
My primary responsibility and challenge was to understand the needs the system must satisfy, and work with partner disciplines to ensure those needs were planned for and met.
I defined different types of contracts to fill different roles in the player’s experience. Priority contracts to push forward narrative and give bespoke mission-like experiences while in-run. Standard contracts to always give players something to do, and push forward their reputation with their preferred factions. Liaison contracts to introduce said factions and their concepts. Limited contracts to give players time-gated and seasonal contracts.
I created our objectives design philosophy for contracts. Ensuring we stuck to the goals and principles of the system as a whole. Objectives had to stick within the different style of different factions, create real player fantasies, account for repeatability, encourage the right behaviors, and take into account all technicalities of the game at large.
I created the contract delivery logic, hooking up where, how, and when contracts would be given to players based on their various player states.
I defined our content creation standards, organizing for extensibility and overseeing consistent hygiene in our content creation tools across a large breadth of content.
I defined most of the modifiers content creators could apply to contracts to add variety, and create theming. Things like timers, flawless conditions, sequentiality, etc.
Working with partner disciplines, I designed or redesigned and implemented large amounts of contract content:
- All season 1 CyberAcme contracts
- All season 3 CyberAcme VIP contracts
- All season 1 Arachne contracts
- Initial designs for season 3 Arachne contracts
- Nucaloric season 1 priority contracts
- Initial designs for season 3 Nucaloric limited contracts
- Provided review and guidance on most standard contracts
