Bungie’s Marathon: Release Date, Story, Price, Maps and More – Our Culture

For a studio long defined by Halo and Destiny, Marathon feels like a rare return to basics (of sorts). Bungie is reimagining its earliest sci-fi world, first introduced in the Marathon trilogy for Mac OS in the 1990s, as a first-person extraction shooter, “where the dark sci-fi world of Tau Ceti collides with tense survival FPS gameplay.” After a bunch of delays and a deeply troubled reveal, Bungie’s latest ViDoc has finally pulled back the curtain on the game‘s direction, offering an in-depth look at its grim sci-fi setting, core mechanics, and launch timeline.

The studio’s upcoming FPS shooter is adopting a harsher, more sinister tone, with Tau Ceti IV now a desolate, hostile world. The studio has also confirmed that Marathon will not be free to play and instead comes with a $40 price tag. With new footage and Bungie finally answering most pressing questions around how it plays and when it arrives, here’s everything you need to know about Marathon, including its release date, price, maps, character systems, and more.

Marathon: Release Date and Pricing

While Bungie hasn’t locked in an exact release date yet, Marathon is set to arrive in March 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. The game will be available ”at the target price of $39.99/€39.99/£34.99, with additional regional pricing to be announced,” likely closer to launch.

“Purchasing Marathon will give you full access to the game, including a roadmap of free gameplay updates as the year progresses,” Bungie said. “This will include new maps, new Runner shells, events, and more, starting with the exploration of UESC Marathon’s Cryo Archive in Season 1.” The developers have also confirmed that the game’s reward passes will not expire, meaning there won’t be any pressure to grind through them.

What Is Marathon’s Story and Setting?

The original Marathon trilogy was deliberately opaque, and Bungie hasn’t changed that approach here. By the time Marathon begins, things have already gone very wrong. The upcoming game is set in the year 2893, long after humanity’s attempt to settle Tau Ceti IV fell apart. The original colony is gone, its 30,000 residents having mysteriously disappeared, and what’s left of the planet is picked over by Runners, which the devs describe as “cybernetic mercenaries who’ve given up their human form for biosynthetic shells,” fighting for whatever scraps still hold value.

What actually happened to the colonists is still unclear, but scattered messages and poorly covered-up reports suggest the UESC isn’t telling the whole story. Players will take on the role of Runners, who work for different factions, each with their own priorities and secrets. Much of the story revolves around uncovering who is pulling the strings and why Tau Ceti IV is still worth exploiting.

While speaking on the PlayStation Blog, Bungie’s Narrative Leader Jonathan Goff explained that the original trilogy’s strength came from how its stories were layered and discovered. “The interweaving of narratives, events, and characters in the original trilogy delivered a world of discovery, wonder, and misdirection,” Goff said.

Rather than spelling everything out, the games left players to engage with the story at their own pace and the devs are carrying that approach forward in the new Marathon. “We’re embracing this approach to expand and explore what’s known about the worlds of Marathon through a new lens—the eyes of Runners, who are stepping into the world of Tau Ceti IV and Marathon to uncover the secrets hidden in the wake of the original trilogy’s events,” Goff added.

Instead of a traditional campaign, Marathon will let its story evolve over time. Moreover, Bungie has confirmed the game will use seasonal storytelling, gradually expanding the world, its factions, and the mystery surrounding the colony’s disappearance.

Marathon: Maps

It wouldn’t be a first-person shooter without an array of maps, and Marathon will give players plenty to work with. At launch, the game will feature four zones (aka maps) spread across Tau Ceti IV. You can jump in solo or queue up in teams of two or three, with every match dropping you into a big, open space and giving you a limited time to gather resources and make it out alive.

Most runs will have you looking for valuables and weapons, but other players will also be vying for the same stuff, which, as you’d expect, will lead to tense shootouts over high-value areas. If you manage to get out with your haul, you can cash it in, keep any weapons and gear you found and decide when to head back out. The more you bring back, the more you earn, and the bigger the risks become next time.

Here are all the Marathon maps confirmed so far:

1. Cryo Archive
2. Dire Marsh
3. Perimeter
4. Outpost

Bungie has also teased a final, endgame map beyond the four launch zones, billing it as the hardest location in the game. Unlike the others, this will be structured more like a heist than a standard extraction run, requiring top-tier gear, careful planning, and a high level of skill to succeed. Environmental threats will play a much bigger role, with players facing high-tier UESC units throughout.

The location is said to feature seven vaults, with each one escalating the challenge and rewards. The devs have hinted that the seventh vault holds the “coolest” reward in the game, along with a major story development and the presence of the Pfhor in this area, where Marathon’s larger narrative might begin to shift in a meaningful way.

Marathon: Classes and Factions

The way you play Marathon will depend heavily on which Runner Shell you bring along. Runner Shells or classes are basically Marathon’s take on playable hero characters and there are six shells planned for the game, as well as one special option, all based on class types that will feel pretty familiar if you’ve played FPS games before. Here are all seven runners you’ll get to play as in Marathon:

1. Destroyer
2. Thief
3. Blackbird
4. Glitch
5. Void
6. Lifeline
7. Rook

Beyond the shell itself, you get to choose the weapons and implants you take into each run, and those choices should reflect what you’re trying to accomplish. Shells are customisable to a degree, but you won’t be creating a single persistent character. Instead, you’ll need to unlock skins and upgrades that change how each shell looks and performs.

You can also align yourself with factions for added benefits. Three factions have been revealed so far, including Traxus, a familiar megacorp presence; Arachne, a PvP-focused death cult; and MIDA. The more work you do for a faction, the more support they offer via gear and upgrades, though Bungie has hinted that faction progress may reset each season.

Is There A Trailer For Marathon?

Yes! Bungie has already put out a handful of trailers for Marathon, including a cinematic reveal short directed by Oscar-winning artist Alberto Mielgo, who has worked on Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots, among other high-profile animation projects. The eight-minute-long trailer is more like a short film than a video game trailer that defines tone and mood, giving a feel for the gritty, enigmatic world of Marathon and a sense of the characters and atmosphere before you ever pick up a gun.

Alongside that short film, Bungie has also released more traditional trailers and gameplay overview clips that show Marathon in action and an early look at combat, extraction mechanics, and the hostile world of Tau Ceti IV.

Are There Any Other Games Like Marathon?

If you want to check out similar games before Marathon lands, there are a few worth your time. On PC, Delta Force is an easy recommendation if you want something faster and more arcadey. For something more extraction-based, you can check out Arena Breakout or even Arc Raiders.

Escape from Tarkov and Apex Legends are two of Marathon’s biggest influences, so both are also worth checking out.