Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter based on an existing series from the 90’s Marathon will indeed have a free beta of sorts. But it’ll be so close to release that rightfully it’s not called as such.
The “server slam” as it’s dubbed (a term seen used before including on fellow extraction shooter Arc Raiders) is an “open preview weekend” where anyone can try out the game for free. No sign-ups needed. Though you do need PS Plus or the Xbox equivalent on consoles.
The Marathon Server Slam will take place on February 26 to March 2, a week before Marathon releases in full on March 5.
This was revealed during the February 2026 State Of Play broadcast, which features the launch trailer. It’s a mood trailer that gives you context on why you are infiling into abandoned colonies on Tau Ceti IV to scavenge the loot (and possibly kill other scavengers doing the same thing). Something horribly wrong has happened here, as marked by the increasingly eerie audio logs left by the presumably ex-colonists.
The original Marathon series is known for dripping its lore via logs like this, so while it may be bog-standard today to hear storytelling via audio logs, this is a what makes this new Marathon similar to the original Marathon games its name is derived of. Now with more harrowing voiceovers.
Marathon launches on March 5 for the PS5, PC (Steam) and Xbox Series X|S.