Marathon: Everything we know so far

Marathon is a new extraction shooter from Destiny 2 developer, Bungie. We've steadily been getting updates on the upcoming FPS that's set to land this September, with a lengthy dive into some gameplay, and a closer look at the characters, or "Runners", we'll be able to play when the game launches.

Set on the planet of Tau Ceti 4, we'll be diving in to the sci-fi setting as we explore a lost colony and go up against rival teams with "unique abilities". Marathon promises to deliver lots of PvP action, which is something Bungie well versed in - being a studio that has brought us some of the best FPS games around. While we also know that the Marathon reboot is not free-to-play, meaning you won't see it added to our list of free PS5 games how much it will cost much it releases is still something of a question mark, with Bungie recently only vaguely stipulating that it will not be "a full-priced title".

But we won't have to wait much longer to find out, with the release date inching ever closer. First revealed back in 2023, it's shaping up to be of the new games for 2025 to watch out. And while Bungie now falls under the PlayStation Studios family, it'll still be releasing on multiple platforms alongside being one of the big upcoming PS5 games. For more on the new shooter, read on below as we give a detailed overview of everything we know so far about Marathon.

Marathon release date

Bungie has set the Marathon 2025 release date for September 23, 2025. The news came following hands-on preview sessions held in March and April 2025, where players got their first taste of Marathon's stylish FPS action alongside a firm release date. There is also a closed alpha playtest scheduled to start on April 23.

This follows a period of relative quiet from the developer that had fans worried about whether the game would ever launch, but since a Marathon release date wasn't given at the time, this was speculative. Production had been stalled by numerous issues at Bungie, following multiple rounds of layoffs at the company. The first set came in October 2023, where it was reported that Marathon had been pushed to 2025 and that Destiny: The Final Shape was being moved from February to June 2024 – the latter of which turned out to be true. More layoffs have followed since, but it's a relief to know that the Marathon reboot is still happening and is targeting a September 23, 2025 launch date for sure.

Marathon platforms

Marathon will be released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.

While Sony acquired Bungie in 2022, the studio has committed to being a multi-game, multi-platform studio. As part of this commitment, the studio has confirmed that the new Marathon game will feature full cross-play and cross-save support.

Marathon developer

If you aren't familiar with the franchise, the Marathon trilogy is what Bungie earned its reputation on before it became synonymous with Halo and Destiny. These early first-person shooters were released for Mac OS between 1994 and 1996, and after a 27-year break, Bungie is returning to the universe it created – in fact, this is the first completely new project from Bungie in over a decade!

This new Marathon game is set to be a PvP-focused extraction shooter, where you'll need to compete with other players for riches, renown, and survival in an ever-evolving world. Set on the alien planet of Tau Ceti IV, you'll have to embody cybernetic mercenaries known as "Runners". Explore the past colony on the planet's surface and uncover loot and new weapons galore.

Is Marathon a sequel?

Bungie may be known for the Halo and Bungie franchises, but before all of that, it was known for building a series of fantastic first-person shooters called Marathon – Apple Macintosh exclusive games which were released between 1994 and 1996.

Christopher Barrett, game director for the new Marathon game, has confirmed that this PvP-focused FPS is "not a direct sequel to the originals, but something that certainly belongs in the same universe." Barrett adds: "You don't need to know anything about Marathon to understand or play this game, but if you do, we've made the experience with references and deep cuts you'll recognize."

Marathon gameplay

Above, you can check out some Marathon gameplay in action from our hands-on session with alpha build of the game to get a 15-minute taste of what's in store.

While Bungie is recognized as one of the key players behind the FPS genre's ascent on console, thanks in part to its work with Halo in the earliest years of Xbox Live, the studio has never made a focused player-versus-player experience. That will change with Marathon, where gameplay will be specifically focused around your ability to navigate encounters with other players out in the wilds of Tau Ceti 4 – either running solo, or in crews of three.

You'll play as a Runner, venturing into the unknown areas of the planet to fight other players and AI-controlled enemies to secure loot and valuable resources, all of which you'll be able to reinvest into your character – should you survive long enough to extract, that is. Game director Christopher Barrett said that Bungie wants "to make sure players have tons of strategic choices, both in terms of the gear available and their loadouts, but also on the ground in terms of tactical options, entrance and exfil points, and so on."

Barrett also explained that there will be a variety of ways to 'win' in Marathon, besides surviving, and that there will be a whole mess of intriguing survival systems to contend with. Speaking to Bungie's hopes to make the genre more approachable: "One of the ways we're addressing this is by making the core fantasies of survival and extraction fun, clear, and easy to understand. We want people to quickly understand fundamentals like healing, or oxygen, or how to organize their gear.

For more on how it plays, check out our Marathon hands-on preview.

Marathon Runners

The Marathon Runners we can play each possess different skills and essentially operate a bit like different class-builds. In an extensive gameplay reveal showcase, the team at Bungie introduced us to the four different Marathon Runners that will be in the Alpha build (with six runners in total set to be in the game for launch). The "four core" runners in alpha will be:

Locus, "the soldier kind of fantasy" character who's all about "push forward gameplay"; Blackbird who has a "reconnaissance-based kit", who's all about "figuring out where players and enemies are in general and punishing poor positioning"; Glitch is an "agile disrupter" who is all about "disrupting enemy teams"; and lastly, Void who's described as the "stealth boy" or "sneaky boy" who can use an active camo cloak and "throw down smoke" to take enemies by surprise.

Marathon will be multiplayer-only

Marathon 2025 will not feature a single-player campaign. Bungie is building Marathon with "the PVP experience as our foundation," although game director Christopher Barrett says that narrative is still a key pillar to the experience – beyond the story-driven stories that extraction shooters are so adept at generating.

"The heart of Marathon’s gameplay experience is PvP but it isn’t the entire story. We’re building a rich, immersive world that will have ample opportunities for exploration and conflict – both against other players and AI-controlled enemies. Combine that with the different objectives and motivations that players will have for each run, as well as the narrative doors that can be unlocked as players discover things and accomplish tasks, and it creates this really rich palette of gameplay possibilities that will only continue to grow and evolve."

Marathon setting

The Marathon setting is the planet known as Tau Ceti 4, where a lost colony that disappeared without a trace once resided. Abandoned by the 30,000 souls who once called it home, as a Runner, you'll have the chance to explore it all. There's also strange signals, long-dormant AI, and other mysteries to contend with.

"Players will engage solo or in crews of three, searching for mysterious alien artifacts, as well as for valuable loot and new weapons and gear that they can add to their collection, says game director Christopher Barrett, who also teases that the world will be "full of persistent, evolving zones, where players create their own journey with every run they take."

While we all wait for Marathon, why not jump into one of the best PS5 games to play right now?