Release Date, Platforms, Price, Story, & Gameplay Details

The studio behind Destiny and Halo is on the cusp of debuting its next sci-fi shooter: Marathon. Taking place on a mysteriously abandoned colony on the planet Tau Ceti IV, the next title by Bungie is an extraction shooter where players will join up in teams of three to fight environmental enemies and other players to collect as much loot as possible. After a delay following a stolen artwork controversy, Marathon will release as direct competition to ARC Raiders, one of 2025’s breakout successes.

Similar to Escape from Tarkov in genre, Marathon has been highly anticipated since it was first teased all the way back in May 2023, and is now on the runway to launch after numerous playtests. Like Destiny and Halo, Marathon will likely feature themes of rogue AI and interstellar conflicts with various alien factions as players will explore a desolate colony planet as cybernetic mercenaries.

When Bungie’s Marathon Releases

March 5, 2026

The newest shooter from Bungie and its first full game since Destiny 2, Marathon will release on March 5, 2026. Marathon was originally slated to come out in September 2025, but the plagiarism controversy caused a shift in development. Most pertinent to the controversy was a comprehensive reexamination of the game’s assets in full. The stolen artwork was scrubbed from not only the game, but existing marketing materials, causing Marathon‘s planned promotional campaign to likewise be pushed back.

In the interim, Marathon has undergone significant visual tweaks and continuous gameplay iteration. New features such as proximity chat and a solo queue have been added since the game’s alpha tests, and the extra development time has been used to polish and deepen numerous gameplay elements. Audio systems have been worked on, environmental storytelling has been bolstered, and customization options have been expanded, among other things.

Marathon Platforms & Pricing

Bungie’s Newest Game Will Not Be Free-To-Play

Marathon two Runners advance through a building

Marathon will be available to play at launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Bungie has already confirmed that the game will have full cross-play and cross-save on launch, which will make it easy to team up with friends on different systems. Interestingly enough, despite entering a crowded market of live-service shooters, Marathon will not be free-to-play. Marathon will cost $39.99, and will presumably also include the expected suite of live-service microtransactions. Pre-orders are available now.

Launching yet another live-service shooter with a price tag is certainly a risky move, especially following failures in recent years like Concord, which also charged $40 at launch. ARC Raiders launched at the exact same price point, however, and has seen sustained popularity well after its release in October. Marathon will, of course, thrive or flounder on the merits of its gameplay.

Everything We Know About Marathon’s Story

Explore The Mystery Of Tau Centi IV’s Abandoned Colony

Marathon is actually a continuation of one of Bungie’s earliest games with the same title. Marathon, released in 1994, took place in 2794 on a huge colony ship bound for the Tau Centi system to settle a colony on its fourth planet. The original game’s story features sentient (and increasingly rampant) AI as well as warring alien races – both early Bungie staples – and the new version of Marathon will continue that story over fifty years later. Set in 2850, 2025’s Marathon will take place on Tau Ceti IV, the very same planet the original colony ship was trying to reach.

Bungie released a full Marathon trilogy in the mid-90s: Marathon in 1994, Marathon 2: Durandal in 1995, and Marathon Infinity in 1996.

Now, Tau Ceti IV is abandoned and its colonists gone without a trace. Players will take the role of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries who have abandoned their human bodies for heightened abilities, and been hired by warring factions to scavenge Tau Ceti IV for whatever valuable supplies and materials the lost colonists left behind.

The mystery surrounding the lost colony will be the main story for Marathon, and since it’s a live-service game, it will likely be slowly revealed over time through events and timed lore drops. Finding out what happened to this Roanoke-like colony is tantalizing and should lead to interesting Destiny and Halo-style lore.

Marathon Gameplay Details

Marathon empty colony ship orbits Tau Ceti IV

Unlike the original 1994 game, 2025’s Marathon will be an extraction looter shooter, where Runners can join up in teams of up to three to explore their surroundings and scavenge for items. The main objective is to locate and extract as much loot from the map as possible without being killed. Getting out successfully means players will be able to use their new and improved loot in their next game, while dying means losing everything, which should make every match uniquely stressful with ever-rising stakes.

Marathon will utilize shared objectives and pings, which should make it easy to play with teammates even without microphone comms. However, it’s not a requirement to play in a team, as there will be a no-fill option, but running solo may be difficult considering the game will be PvPvE. Environmental enemies will include roaming security forces, like the robots shown in trailers, as well as strange, hostile alien creatures.

You will be able to choose from numerous different Runner classes, more of which will be added to Marathon post-release. The classes that have been revealed so far are Blackbird, Glitch, Locust, Void, and Rook. Each Runner comes with one Prime ability, one Tactical, and two Traits. You will be able to create any team composition you want as there are no limits on doubling up, so one team could hypothetically have three of the same Runner.

Marathon will be Bungie’s first release in nine years, and its first under the PlayStation Studios banner after it was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2022. The live-service market is generally volatile, but there has been recent evidence that the extraction shooter genre is ripe for newcomers. Marathon appears to be a fast-paced alternative to a genre that has largely succeeded with slower, more tactical offerings.