Marathon Release Date Set for March 2026

7 hours ago 2

Eric Warner is a Journalist and Multimedia Producer based in New England with over seven years of experience producing stories for multiple print, online, radio, and video publications.

Eric has been a gaming fan ever since getting an original Xbox for Christmas in the early 2000's. From then on, he has become enthralled in the gaming world, spending thousands of hours in Halo multiplayer matches, climbing dozens of towers across the Assassin's Creed games, and 100% perfecting every single Horizon game to date.

When not writing for DualShockers Eric can typically be found playing games on his PS5, PC, and Xbox or reading sci-fi, horror, and fantasy books/comics.

For over four years, Bungie has been working on its latest title, Marathon, after working primarily on Destiny games since 2014. The wider gaming world will soon be able to return to Marathon this upcoming spring season.

A reboot of Bungie's classic 1994 Doom-like FPS Marathon, 2026's Marathon is a PvP-focused extraction shooter rather than a PvE game centered around a futuristic security officer solving puzzles, working with AI, and fending off aliens.

Gameplay screenshot of Marathon from Bungee.

Bungie Hopes A $500 Bounty Will Draw In Marathon Playtesters

Bungie really, really wants player feedback right about now.

After a mixed-received alpha test of Marathon's multiplayer and controversy due to the game using artist Fern "Antireal" Hook's designs without her consent, Marathon was pushed back from its initial September 2025 release date and rescheduled to launch within the fiscal year.

Now, after nearly six months of refinement and closed playtests, Bungie is preparing to release the new Marathon in March 2026 with a target price of $40 and a plethora of new features.

The New and Improved Marathon

In a new Bungie ViDoc entitled "Vision of Marathon", Bungie developers addressed fan concerns about Marathon's gameplay, narrative, and game design, with Technical Director Chris Butcher stating that, "Being good at Marathon is like playing poker with guns."

[...] Marathon was pushed back from its initial September 2025 release date and rescheduled to launch within the fiscal year.

The game's environment will have increased material responses, allowing water, lighting, and debris to move and appear more realistic, while corpses of Runners will remain in-game for a bit and decay over time.

Four expansive maps will be available in Marathon at launch, including Perimeter, Dire Marsh, Outpost, and Cryo Archive, with each featuring unique weather and artificial hazards and events that will randomly occur during certain matches.

In terms of equipment and customization, Marathon will feature over 400 weapons mods to increase stats, while players can select Runners from six factions with their own upgrade trees, including:

Arachne
CyberAcme
NuCaloric
Sekiguchi
Traxus
MIDA

Marathon's Rewards Passes will additionally not expire once purchased, and all players will have access to Season 1 content, such as new maps, new Runner shells, and more.