Marathon Cracks Down On Viral Movement Exploits That Are ‘Ultimately Unhealthy’ For The Game

Some Marathon players have been using a slide-canceling technique to whip around levels without immediately overheating. Bungie has put the kibosh on those exploits as its latest patch addresses known bugs and retools the extraction shooter’s popular Outpost loot hangout.

First, the movement exploits. Spend time on the Marathon subreddit or following Marathon content creators online, and you’ll be very familiar with a slide-canceling technique some hardcore players have been taking advantage of to outmaneuver opponents. Players can gain momentum and maintain it by pulling out a weapon or using the Thief’s grapple during the slide animation. Bungie had previously called it out as a problem and a March 31 update has nuked the exploit.

‼️NEW Movement tech in Marathon: “Slide cancel” 👀

🎥@nava94_#Marathon | #MarathonGame

pic.twitter.com/2lo82rFaYi

— Marathon Media (@MarathonMedia01) March 12, 2026

“One of our core philosophies for Marathon is that rapid repositioning and aggression must always have a meaningful cost,” the development team wrote. “That cost can be an ability charge, heat buildup, or increased risk but it must exist and be understandable to an observer. Unbounded movement, while expressive and clip-worthy, is ultimately unhealthy for the pace of play we want to maintain for Marathon. To set expectations early, we will be looking at any future movement exploits through the same lens.”

Pinwheel is also getting re-tuned. The Destroyed Wing entrance is now re-opened, the security credentials needed to access the locked room in the Hub have been updated, and the Hub now also has bullet-proof glass. In addition, loot quality across the location has been buffed. If you thought it was a chaotic hotspot before, it sounds like things are only going to get more intense.

A new update is live, featuring a fix for slide canceling and multiple changes to Outpost. Full details: https://t.co/xw34HGhtk3 pic.twitter.com/n4QKUX7Bsl

— Marathon (@MarathonTheGame) March 31, 2026

Aside from these changes and fixes, it’s otherwise a pretty light patch as the game hits its one-month anniversary. Bungie previously indicated that a bigger mid-season balance patch is planned for sometime in April. While it would be cool to have a couple more surprise content drops or retooled activities, it’s not clear what, if anything, else is getting added between now and the start of season 2 in June.

That’s when players will get access to a new loadout system, a new version of Dire Marsh, and a new Runner Shell. In the meantime players can work on polishing off their final contracts and take weekly runs at trying to complete Cryo, which still feels way out of reach for the average Marathon fan. That challenge is what keeps people coming back, though I wouldn’t mind seeing shotguns get a bigger nerf when the next patch arrives.