Bungie has announced a release date for its Marathon reboot, which will reimagine the original 90s series of single-player FPS games as a multiplayer extraction shooter.
As revealed over the weekend, the Marathon release date is September 23rd. A closed alpha test is also being held between April 23rd and May 4th, and if you want to get into that, you’ll have to sign up to the official Marathon Discord (it’s free, though, don’t worry).
Narrative director Julia Nardin describes Marathon as “both a reimagining of and a direct successor to the original games”; you’ll “recognize characters, locations and events” from the original Marathon games in the new title, but “those events played out slightly differently” than you may remember.
Bungie’s goal with Marathon is to inject story into the traditional extraction shooter gameplay template, so “new mysteries and stories” will be available to discover in each season. Some of those moments will happen in-game, and others will “go beyond the game”, utilizing the likes of ARGs (alternate reality games) and trailers.
As for the gameplay, well, Marathon is an extraction shooter, just as you’d expect. You’ll team up with up to two other players, facing off against “AI security forces, otherworldly threats, and rival Runner teams” as you explore a lost colony on the planet of Tau Ceti IV.
You’ll choose from a range of Runners, each of whom has “unique abilities, stats, and styles”, and you’ll further customize them using the loot you find while exploring Tau Ceti IV.
You can take a look at Marathon‘s debut gameplay trailer, which gives a pretty good sense of what kind of game you can expect in September, right here.
Marathon‘s road to release began back in May 2023, when the reboot of the beloved 90s series was first announced. Following that, Bungie revealed a little more info about the game before dropping off the radar for “an extended period” to develop Marathon further.
In the months between then and now, Bungie seemingly ran into some snags with Marathon; the studio suffered numerous layoffs as Marathon was reportedly internally delayed.
Following that, director Christopher Barrett was quietly fired from the project over misconduct allegations last year. He subsequently brought a lawsuit against Sony regarding the dismissal, although Sony has pushed back against the claims he made in that lawsuit.
Marathon launches for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on September 23rd.
