Back in 2023, Bungie, the studio behind Halo and Destiny, announced the return of its classic series Marathon. The developer is going after the extraction shooter crowd this time. However, the road to launch hasn"t been an easy one, with controversies and delays hitting the project. Today, it finally attached a new release window to the game and shared some new information about what will be included in the package.
Coming out from its indefinite delay, Marathon is now slated to launch in March, 2026. A specific date has not yet been announced.
"Since the Alpha playtest in April, we’ve been quietly iterating on Marathon alongside a dedicated community of players," said Bungie. "Every closed playtest was a chance for us to hear candid feedback about what’s working, what needs work, and where Marathon can shine."
The studio also released an in-depth video that talks about the title"s gameplay features, its lore, improvements over the original beta, maps, loot and customization, as well as the progression system, seen below.
The Sony-owned developer is making Marathon"s launch price $39.99, following in the footsteps of the mass-hit extraction shooter Arc Raiders. Bungie is promising free updates to all players who purchase the game with seasonal content drops. This will include new playable characters, new maps, events, and more as the live service experience evolves.
"Finally, and most importantly, we believe in preserving competitive integrity in Marathon, so survival will never come down to how much money you spend," Bungie adds, regarding pay-to-win concerns that fans may have. This means season pass and in-game microtransaction store options will only serve cosmetic content for players.
Sony recently revealed that the purchase of Bungie, which cost it $3.6 billion, hasn"t been very lucrative for the company, detailing that the level of sales and the user engagement that was expected at the purchase has not been reached. Bungie CEO Pete Parsons stepped down from the studio in August. The developer has a lot to prove with the launch of Marathon.
Marathon is coming to PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 in March 2026.