Bungie begins testing Marathon

Important takeaways

Bungie is allegedly inviting gaming influencers and content creators to play Marathon.
YouTuber HiddenXperia recently confirmed its week-long involvement in the Marathon playtests, describing the game as “unreal”.
These external playtests may indicate that Bungie is preparing to reveal more details about Marathon in the coming months.

Bungie has seemingly begun playtesting its upcoming live-service extraction shooter, Marathon. Game influencers and content creators have apparently visited Bungie's headquarters to test Marathon and probably provide feedback on it.

Marathon was announced in the summer of 2023 as a revival of Bungie's long-dormant but well-regarded first-person shooter series from the 1990s. Where the original Marathon games were campaign-heavy, but the upcoming reboot is a live service title that takes inspiration from extraction shooters like Escape from Tarkov. New directions are not uncommon when restarting franchises, however Marathons reputation has taken a hit due to its troubled development, with rumors of misconduct, creative leads being terminated, potential delays and more.

Family

Bungie has reportedly fired marathon director following a misconduct investigation

A new report claims that Bungie fired its Marathon boss following an internal investigation, which included various employee complaints.

Although unconfirmed, rumors suggest that Bungie is internally targeting a 2025 release window Marathon. The latest reports on Marathon Having a $40 price tag lends further credence to this, as pricing is usually worked out in the back half of development. A 2025 launch seems more likely now, as Bungie has started inviting content creators and influencers to playtest Marathon. YouTuber HiddenXperia recently announced on Twitter that he has played Marathon on Bungie “all week” along with a picture of a custom Marathon ID tag.

YouTuber HiddenXperia describes Marathon as a “surreal experience”

More content creators have yet to come forward and confirm their involvement in Marathon playtests, but HiddenXperia's first impressions seem promising. While he couldn't delve into finer details (most likely due to non-disclosure agreements), HiddenXperia described Marathon experience as “unreal”. Only time will tell if this term was used in a positive connotation, but it at least hints at it Marathon delivers on its distinct sci-fi art style. The content creators involved in Marathon playtests are possibly embargoed, after which they can freely talk about their time with the game. Therefore, they are eager to learn more about Marathon may have to be patient until then.

Also, if Marathon is in good enough shape for external playtesting, Bungie may be preparing to reveal more information (including a confirmed release window) about the live-service extraction shooter in the coming months. The 2024 Game Awards ceremony is the only major gaming event left for 2024, but speculation is also rife that Sony will host another State of Play before the end of the year that will announce more tentpole PS5 exclusives slated for release in 2025. About Marathons promotion is indeed planned to start this year, then the later event makes more sense, but everything remains to be seen.