Ex-Marathon director claims extraction shooter is only genre named after mechanic

Former Marathon product director Chris Sides said he hates the “extraction shooter” label, stating it is the only genre named after a gameplay mechanic. The claim is remarkable, coming from an ex-Bungie employee, the studio best known for the Destiny looter shooter franchise over the past decade.

During a new podcast, Shooter Monthly, former Marathon product director Chris Sides says he “hates” the term “extraction shooter”, calling it “so dumb” and “the only genre where its name is a mechanic”. He adds that the label “makes it hard to compare these games” and that “the genre doesn’t even know what it is”.

“So, you call Helldivers 2, is that an extraction shooter because you extract? No, it’s not like Tarkov at all. So, the terminology of the genre is already terrible; it really makes it hard to compare these games.”

Additionally, he said that he pushed Bungie’s marketing to find a different name for the genre while he was working on Marathon. He also drew sharper lines between genre subtypes, saying Arena Breakout and Escape from Tarkov fit the same mold (military shooters), but comparing ARC Raiders to EFT isn’t logical.

Other comments included comparing ARC Raiders to Rust, and asking whether Rust would fit in the extraction genre given its survival mechanics. Sides added that the Marathon team had been tracking ARC Raiders and other extraction titles for years, noting that ARC “is gotten so much better”.

Counterpoint

Chris Sides is a former product director on Bungie’s Marathon and previously worked on business intelligence for Destiny 2: The Witch Queen expansion. His statement is questionable because looter shooter is a mechanic-named game genre that includes Destiny 2, which he worked on, or the recently released Borderlands 4.

Other simple and popular mechanic-named genres include deckbuilders (Slay the Spire), autobattlers (Teamfight Tactics), idle/clicker games (Cookie Clicker), etc.

Phillip Black (ex-DICE) hosts Shooter Monthly under the Deconstructor of Fun banner. The debut episode discussed the current shooter landscape: Arena Breakout Infinite‘s Western traction, ARC Raiders’ positioning, Battlefield 6’s launch, and the premium and free-to-play split in game design.

Extraction shooters

Extraction shooters are the new hotness in PvP live-service games. Developers are still looking for the right gameplay formula, which includes, but is not limited to, a mix of high-risk PvPvE raids (which usually can be ended only by extracting from a designated point or player’s death), stash or global economy, and a seasonal pacing.

Publishers are funding multiple projects, but not everyone makes it to a successful release. Because the genre is still young, narrowly targeted, and challenging to build, many projects have failed, been canceled, or shut down shortly after launch.

Examples include:

• The Cycle: Frontier and Scavengers shutting down.
• Hyenas, project R7 from Respawn, and The Division Heartland canceled mid-development.
• Smaller releases like Marauders or Hawked going effectively dead.

At the same time, the picture is improving: Gray Zone Warfare and Delta Force‘s game mode Operations are still growing, while mobile titles like Arena Breakout and Lost Light remain active.

And of course, there are pioneers of the genre, Escape from Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown, the fresh hit ARC Raiders, and Bungie’s Marathon, whose troubled development we continue to cover, too.

For a complete picture, see our separate article on extraction shooters. It defines the core gameplay loop, traces the genre’s history, lists the most notable games (including failed ones), and highlights the few titles gaining momentum so new releases can be judged in context.

Marathon

Bungie indefinitely delayed Marathon from its planned September 23, 2025, launch after alpha feedback. After months of silence, the studio announced a Closed Technical Test for October 22-28 under NDA on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and added changes players were asking for: proximity voice chat, a solo queue, and adjusted combat pacing.

Sony has repeatedly signaled its aim to ship the game within its current fiscal year, ending March 2026, but that timing has not been officially confirmed. Sony acknowledged issues in its live-service pivot but said it remains optimistic.

The April alpha landed poorly: sentiment was mainly negative, and most players dropped Marathon after a day or two. The second test ran under NDA, but Steam data and a few leaks show retention several times higher than in April and general improvements.

ARC Raiders

ARC Raiders is a third-person PvPvE extraction shooter from Embark Studios (ex-DICE) for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, released on October 30, 2025. It drops squads or solo players into raids on the surface of a desolated planet with hostile AI ARC robots and other raiders, and supports cross-platform play.

Post-launch, ARC Raiders has sold 4 million copies and reached 700,000 concurrent players across platforms, with a peak of 462,488 CCU on Steam. Embark published a 2025 roadmap for the game, while patch 1.1.0 introduced new map conditions, including Night Raid on Blue Gate.

The developers also clarified the wipe system for ARC Raiders, the Expedition Project, which makes resets optional and tied to 8-week seasons. This is a unique solution and a big deal for extraction shooters.

Check out our ARC Raiders guides:

• How to level up Scrappy fast.
• Best graphics settings for ARC Raiders.

Escape from Tarkov

Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore extraction shooter by Battlestate Games. After eight years in beta, version 1.0 (PC only) is slated for release on November 15, 2025, and a Steam page for the game was launched in September. Console versions for EFT were confirmed, though the release window remains unknown.

The game passed 500,000 Steam wishlists in mid-October and 750,000 by November 5. Existing owners will need to purchase the Steam version separately to play on Steam; no free keys.

Ahead of launch, Battlestate rolled out a “Softcore” update that eases progression and gunplay, and officially confirmed a console port without platforms or a date. The softcore patch reduces inertia and aimpunch, raises carry weight, speeds XP and skills, brings earlier Flea Market access, and increases high-value loot density.

Our article on the history of extraction shooters focuses heavily on Tarkov’s development and related milestones. As an interesting note, the game was never intended to be an extraction shooter from the beginning and was aiming for a DayZ-style MMO with a single giant map.