Marathon developer Bungie revealed that player progress will be erased at the start of the game's content seasons. Bungie, the developer behind Fate and the original Halo game, looks to bring the tight gunplay and mobility it's known for to the live-service, extraction shooter genre. Arc Raiders is probably Marathons biggest competition, which has optional progress wipes. It will be interesting to see how players react to Bungie's forced progress wipes when the game releases.
The stylish one Marathon will be available on PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series X/S starting March 5. Marathon has just finished its server slam, which ran from February 26th to March 2nd. According to SteamDB, the game peaked at 143,621 concurrent players on Steam when the server slam started. Judging by player engagement, the server crash appears to have been a success. While players didn't get access to the full game, it gave them a sense of what to expect when the extraction game is released later this week. The consensus seems to be mostly positive, with a few kinks that Bungie may need to work out. Some players have reported being put off by a steep learning curve, confusing menus, and sparse player-vs-player encounters.
When is Marathon coming out? (Global release times)
The global release times for Marathon are out. Check out when the game will be released in your region.
Bungie offers a closer look at Marathon's post-launch content
Bungie offered players a deeper insight Marathonpost-launch content via an article the developer posted on Twitter. Marathons season will last approximately three months and introduce new content, including new Runner skins, gear, zones and events. More importantly, the developer revealed that with each new season, players' progress will be erased, meaning everyone will have to start over from level 1 when the new content becomes available. This means faction reputation, contracts, kits and everything else has to be polished every time a season starts. However, Bungie said that players would not have to unlock the factions again when a season starts. Cosmetics, milestone rewards, and Codex progression will also carry over. The developer also said there may be other forms of progression that carry over, but didn't provide details.
“Each season of Marathon provides a clean slate for the entire community with progression resets. These resets include everyone's gear, contract progression, faction progression, and player level,” Bungie wrote in the post.
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Along with the content cleanup, Bungie also shared more information about Marathons first season, titled DEATH IS THE FIRST STEP. The season will pit factions against each other as they search for what happened to the original 30,000 members of the lost New Cascadia Colony. Players will unlock a new endgame zone called the Cryo Archive that contains puzzles and potentially a large PvE boss. Later in March, ranked mode will become available, which will probably have better equipment and stronger enemies. Bungie said to expect more information about Ranked mode closer to the game's March 5 launch. The developer also offered a look ahead at Marathonsecond season, called DUSKwhich, among other things, will introduce new game systems and a night survival mode. DEATH IS THE FIRST STEP begins March 5, so players should expect DUSK land sometime in June.
While Marathon has surpassed Arc Raiders on the Steam Top Sellers chart, it still has some big shoes to fill. Fortunately, it sounds like Bungie is aware of some of the stress points players are experiencing following the game's recent server crash and plans to make adjustments. One of the biggest complaints players have experienced is the game's user interface, which can be confusing to navigate. There are specific gameplay features that players have also had some friction with. Namely, Marathons heat generation system, which builds up over time and prevents player actions such as sprinting and melee when full. Bungie has indicated that it is aware of player feedback and is looking into this system and others. As a live service game, Bungie will likely include quality of life improvements over time after the game's release.
The comparison with Arc Raiders is probably one Marathon will have a hard time running out. Arc Raiders has been a huge success and innovated the extraction shooter genre. However, Marathon seems to have a greater focus on PvP gameplay and less social aspect compared to Embark Studios' games. Most players seem to shoot first instead of using the game's proximity chat feature. Marathon will also not include aggression based matchmaking which Arc Raiders uses. Only time will tell MarathonThe post-launch content and continued support will be enough to make a name for itself in the extraction shooter genre.
- Released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen/animated blood, language, violence, in-game purchases, user interaction
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
