Bungie has revealed Marathon, including the title’s release date.
The upcoming extraction shooter is launching on September 23, 2025, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows via Steam.
The game seamlessly blends in story to gameplay. The Runners work in groups of three, and the truth is, there’s nothing glamorous about what they do.
They have dropped in onto the failed space colony of Tau Ceti IV not to save anyone, but to scavenge. Furthermore, this is mercenary work that may be illegal in some level. That’s the reason why Runners are as likely to shoot each other as they will fall victim to Tau Ceti IV’s native threats.
They’ve also incorporated a reason for players to keep dying and coming back, but admittedly, that’s not particularly unique anymore after Borderlands. We’ll allow Bungie to explain it in their own words:
“Runners are cybernetic mercenaries who’ve given up their human form for biosynthetic shells. They’ve sacrificed a piece of their humanity for a slice of immortality that allows their consciousness to be transferred upon death.”
You get to choose different runners who have unique visuals, stats, and abilities. But most of your in-game abilities are based on equipment and ‘implants’ that you’ll pick up in the course of playing.
Aside from other Runners, you will have to face Tau Ceti IV’s native flora and fauna. But since you’re scavenging what used to be an entire colony, there are still AI security active enough to be a lethal threat. And so, that’s who Bungie has set up the game’s PvPvE loop.
Interestingly, Bungie doesn’t seem to have a story set in stone for Marathon and how it connects to the original trilogy. As they put it, the way that this new game will connect to the originals will be revealed in time.
But perhaps the most interesting part of the announcement was Bungie renewing their promise to involve the community. While they haven’t shared any concrete dates yet, they did reveal that they plan to bring in more players to their ongoing closed alpha tests. If you’re interested in joining those tests, you can join the game’s official Discord.
We do believe Marathon has made a good first impression with this public reveal. We did report a few months ago that several content creators who were part of the closed beta came out of it with glowing praise.
It remains to be seen how this game will ultimately land, but that will be revealed in the coming days. In the meantime, you can watch a brief gameplay trailer below.
