‘This is an important checkpoint’: Months after delay, Bungie’s Marathon is returning to testing
Marathon closed test will give players a chance to try improvements
Nearly four months after its last-minute delay, Bungie’s new shooter Marathon is returning to closed beta testing.
On Monday, the studio announced that it will be holding a new closed technical test for Marathon between October 22 and 27, with sign-ups open now.
According to Bungie, the NDA’d playtest is designed to try out the improvements it’s made since the game’s Alpha, including three new maps, five runner shells, proximity chat, retuned combat pacing, a solo queue, deeper environmental storytelling, and more.
“That said, the Technical Test build is a work in progress and will only include a portion of what’s planned for Marathon’s full release, focused on the early player experience,” it said.
Although players who participate in the closed tech test will not be permitted to share their impressions, Bungie claims it will be “sharing a public update on Marathon’s development in the coming months”.
Marathon was originally planned to release on September 23, but Bungie announced in June that it had officially delayed the game, claiming that it needed more time to refine and test the game.
The delay followed mixed feedback from players to alpha tests, and a significant controversy around stolen artwork that was found in those test builds.
Sony’s chief financial officer has since said she expects Marathon to release by the end of March 2026, and reiterated the company’s decision to take more control over Bungie’s management, with the eventual aim being to completely integrate it into PlayStation Studios.
Asked whether Marathon would be cancelled, Sony CFO Lin Tao said she did not expect this to happen, saying: “We are now fixing the problems, so we believe this launch will happen. If this launch is cancelled we’d need to do the revision of the valuation, however as of now this is not expected.”
