Marathon

After multiple delays and plenty of concern over the state it would be in when it finally arrived, Bungie's new extraction shooter, Marathon, has finally arrived. Here's an overview of everything we know about the PvPvE extraction shooter.

Release Date, Platforms, Pricing

Bungie first announced the reboot of its Marathon series back in May 2023, and in the three years since its reveal to its release, it went through more than its fair share of troubles. It had its first public delay only months after its initial reveal, amidst one of the several rounds of layoffs Bungie has had in recent years. Its original game director was fired after the studio investigated allegations of his misconduct towards female coworkers. Its visual design was embroiled in yet another case of Bungie plagiarising from another artist without properly crediting them. And all of that is without getting into the issues Bungie has been facing outside of Marathon during its development.

But leading up to its release date, there was a notable shift in tone in the discussion surrounding the game, and the success of its Server Slam test days before launch seemingly solidified a strong launch. Marathon arrived on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on March 5, 2026, at $39.99 USD for the base game. The Deluxe Edition, which includes a voucher for the premium track of the battle pass (called 'Reward Pass' in-game), 200 SILK tokens, which is the currency you'll use to claim cosmetics from the Reward Pass, but these are not the same as the game's premium currency that you pay for, which is called LUX.

The Deluxe Edition also includes two weapon cosmetics and four skins for Shells, one for the Assassin, Vandal, Thief, and Destroyer. If you grab the base game and want to upgrade to the deluxe, you can upgrade for $19.99.

Genre, Setting, and Story Premise

Marathon is a sci-fi first-person, PvPvE extraction shooter. Each run, the weapons, ammo, health kits, shield kits, and every bit of gear you bring into a match with you, and everything you scavenge as you explore, can be lost if you die before you're able to exfil. The only way to make sure you don't lose anything is to successfully extract, and there are no 'safe pockets' in the game at launch (and it feels unlikely it'll ever include them, since it seems like Bungie would have to bend the rules of Marathon's lore if it included them down the line).

Marathon is set on the planet Tau Ceti IV, a planet light-years away from Earth that was once identified as a potential new home for humanity, after Earth's own resources were dramatically drained and an attempt to colonize Mars entered a downward spiral. The United Earth Space Council (UESC) commissions the construction of a massive colony ship called the UESC Marathon, which is actually a ship made out of one of Mars' moons. The UESC Maraton embarks on a mission to take thousands of colonists to Tau Ceti IV on a journey set to take 300 years, though shortly after it leaves for the planet, all communication with it is lost, and it goes dark.

Then, years later, a message is received on Earth that reads, "Somewhere, in the heavens, they are waiting." Former humans who have given up their bodies to become pure consciousnesses that can be uploaded into cybernetic bodies are sent to Tau Ceti IV as the world's major corporations each vie for capitalist control of the planet, while you also work to uncover the mystery of what happened to the UESC Marathon. You do this by exploring different parts of the planet, which make up the game's maps. At launch, that includes Perimeter, Dire Marsh, and Outpost.

Gameplay

You'll load into each Marathon match either as a solo player or in a squad of three (you can load in with just two players, but you'll be up against teams of three). As previously stated, every piece of gear you bring with you is at risk of being lost if you die during the match and fail to be revived by your teammates.

There are six Runner Shells that you can choose to play as, each with its own strengths and abilities that fit various playstyles. The six Runner Shells available at launch are:

• Destroyer
• Recon
• Vandal
• Thief
• Triage
• Assassin

There is a seventh shell, Rook, that is different from the other shells as it restricts you to loading into a match as a solo player (though you're only loaded into matches against other squads, not other solo players). You build a loadout for the other six shells (or take a free loadout with pre-determined weapons and basic gear called Sponsored Kits) with weapons and gear you acquire and successfully exfil with in your runs. Choosing to run as a Rook grants you a random loadout that doesn't get pulled from your own stash (called your Vault), and the Rook shell comes with limited abilities.

You're pitted against other players in each match, but also against UESC-controlled robots that make up the PvE portion of Marathon's combat. The core of Marathon's gameplay is a push-and-pull between chaotic first-person gunfights with other Runners and UESC forces and tense, stealth-focused moments of survival as you try to avoid a combat encounter you know you'll likely lose. Objectives are dolled out through contracts, which progress story beats for each of the six factions and provide resource and gear rewards for completion.

While your goal in a run may be to complete a contract or find a specific piece of loot, the ultimate goal is always to exfil successfully. Unless a contract says otherwise, most can be completed over multiple runs instead of a single run. Successfully completing Priority Contracts, the ones based around the game's narrative beats, rewards you with short discussions with the AI agents representing each faction and more story information.

Non-priority contracts can be completed in order to gain XP and, more specifically, to gain XP for a particular faction, as you'll be required to earn specific faction levels to unlock new Priority Contracts and upgrades for your Runner from the upgrade trees associated with each faction. Unlike other extraction shooters, where the endgame is amassing a large amount of high-tiered loot, Marathon's endgame is more narrative-driven, as every player will suffer a full reset with every seasonal update. None of your loot is yours to keep forever.

Tech and Specs

Keeping with the same approach Bungie has taken with Destiny 2, the technical specs for playing Marathon on PC aren't too demanding, which also helps it run smoothly on consoles. You can see the full PC specs below.