When is the Marathon release date? For extraction shooter fans, it’s a date that you’re probably going to be counting down to. Destiny 2 developer Bungie is reviving one of its earliest IPs and giving it a lick of futuristic sci-fi paint as it looks to take a slice of the pie in the extraction shooter genre. But when will this exciting new project launch, and how much do we know about it so far?
With Bungie’s experience of making great shooters, there’s a good chance that Marathon will be one of the best competitive FPS games when it does finally arrive. With a PvP focus, this will be a truly high-stakes extraction shooter with a unique visual style to boot. Marathon crossplay support will also ensure players on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC can compete against or alongside each other.
Marathon release date speculation
We anticipate that the Marathon release date will arrive in late 2025. While Bungie is yet to state a release window or date, we believe this to be a solid prediction given it was only revealed in May 2023, and CEO Pete Parsons said previously he wanted “other franchises” outside of Destiny up and running by 2025.
Bungie has confirmed that when it does launch, Marathon will be coming to current-gen consoles and PC only – it won’t be coming to PS4, Xbox One, or Switch.
Rumors of the Marathon reboot were first reported by Insider Gaming in October 2022. Its report revealed that Bungie would be reviving the Marathon IP and would transform it into an extraction shooter, which we now know to be accurate. At the time, Insider Gaming’s sources said the game was in a “pre-alpha” state.
Parson’s comments about launching a new franchise by 2025 stemmed from an interview he did with IGN in 2019.
Marathon platforms
Bungie’s new extraction shooter Marathon will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles, as well as PC. And yes, just like Destiny 2, there will be full Marathon cross-play and cross-save functionality,
Marathon gameplay
While we haven’t seen any proper gameplay footage, we do know a few things about Marathon already – both officially, and leaked.
In Marathon, you’ll be playing in teams of three players, as was suggested by the below shot in the reveal trailer and confirmed by Bungie in its Marathon Vidoc, which you can watch a little further down in this guide. It’s unclear whether you’ll be able to play solo or as a duo, but three appears to be the team size that gameplay has been built around.
A brief description of Marathon’s gameplay on its official website also reveals more: “Become a Runner in Bungie’s new sci-fi PvP extraction shooter. Compete for survival, riches, and renown in a world of evolving, persistent zones, where any run can lead to greatness.”
The objective of Marathon is to enter a match to complete challenges and extract with artifacts. Artifacts appear to be of different sizes, values, and importance, and one of their main purposes appears to be unlocking new zones of the map. In the Marathon Vidoc, game director Chris Barrett describes such a scenario.
“Imagine if one crew happens to find an alien key, they place it on this altar, and then they get immortalized for opening up the next zone. And they have to go and figure out how to unlock that [zone] for everyone else,” he says.
While the main focus is on PvP moments, there will also be PvE elements in Marathon as well. A Q+A with Barrett and general manager Scott Taylor confirms that “AI-controlled” enemies will be present.
Insider Gaming sources have also revealed some other potential gameplay details. They claim that Marathon will have an oxygen system, which acts as the limiting factor as to how long you can spend looting and exploring in a given run. You enter matches with a certain amount of oxygen supply, and this gradually runs dry unless you bring top up cannisters with you or find cannisters as you play. Run out of oxygen, and you’ll start losing health. Run out of health and, well, you know the rest.
There will also be an injury system like Escape From Tarkov, whereby damage taken to certain body parts will have different negative effects on your gameplay. An example Insider Gaming gives is that injuries to the stomach can negatively impact your oxygen supply, causing it to run out faster.
Its report also claims that there will be an ability and perk system, that will give your character certain benefits.
The leadership team overseeing Marathon’s development is also packed with Bungie veterans: Barrett, Taylor, and senior design lead Lars Bakken collectively have over 50 years of experience at Bungie between just the three of them. As a result, the game will feel typically Bungie, meaning that you can expect “incredible feel of the weapons to beautiful and evocative world building, rich in lore, immersion, and opportunities for incredible adventure”, according to Barrett.
Marathon story
Marathon takes place far in the future on the planet of Tau Ceti IV. A “massive ghost ship hangs in low orbit” over the planet, and a colony of “30,000 souls” that settled there have vanished, according to Bungie.
You play as a Runner, who goes to the planet looking for answers – and loot. “Strange signals hint at mysterious artifacts, long-dormant AI, and troves of untold riches.”
That’s all we know about Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter and the Marathon release date. Of course, this isn’t the only thing Bungie is working on – the Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date is also on the horizon, which will be the last expansion of the game’s Light and Dark saga. Oh, and did you know that the worlds of Destiny and Marathon are connected? Bungie sure does go deep when it comes to lore.
