The 2026 reimagination of Marathon as a multiplayer extraction shooter has been interesting, but most interesting of all is how developer Bungie has been transparent in outlining what they’re thinking and cooking to evolve the live service game forward.
In a post credited to Marathon (2026) game director Joe Ziegler, the team reflected on what worked with their take on the extraction shooter, what they want to improve and explore and how they will do so in the coming season, Season 2.
Marathon (2026) is designed with it being a hardcore experience in mind. Of the six core concepts shared in the article, four of them arguably contributed to this, namely “Everything is potentially dangerous,” “Preparing is important” “Bigger risk, bigger reward,” and “Surviving matters.” The team are aware of that, and in return, are thinking of ways to make Marathon to be more chill, less grindy and less overwhelming.
Within Season 1 (the current season, which already past its midpoint) the team has observed how players regularly play the two less intense maps, Perimeter and Dire Marsh, with only Sponsored Kits (pre-built loadouts, usually free, hence not risking precious loot).
Moving forward, Marathon will employ two different experimental modes in Season 2, one in the beginning of the season while the other to deploy in the latter half the latest. While lacking concrete details, the first mode to deploy early in Season 2 “will focus more on PVE, but with a light touch of PVP” while the latter experimental mode is PVE-only where “crews being tasked with completing objectives together and making some progress across matches.” That latter one sounds a lot more like Helldivers 2, which is a good thing: that’s the bar of co-op PVE shooters, especially for PlayStation which owns Bungie.
It’s interesting to see how Marathon isn’t precious to their initial vision and willing to make the game more accessible. As per our review, Marathon is “ruthless” or in Destiny terms, “an amp-up Destiny Contest Dungeon Strike.”
The mid-season update, however, did attempt to address this by giving more tools for players to play nice with each other and more ways to progress.
As it is, you really need to be devoted to keep up with the top players who no-lifed the game. And for those hawking the Steam charts know that Marathon could use some more players in the pool to not make it an all-sweat experience. More players should be able to experience the “mind-bending sci-fi” Bungie teased is coming in the future.
Marathon is out now on PS5, PC (Steam) and Xbox Series X|S.