Bungie has outlined what to expect from Marathon upon launch, and confirmed plans for seasonal wipes that mean all players lose their gear every few months.
Seasonal updates will introduce new gameplay, including gear, Runner shells, zones, events, and more, Bungie said, and they’ll be free for all players to access or earn, so there’s no expansions or DLC required.
Each season brings a “clean slate for the whole community,” Bungie explained, with progression resets that include everyone’s gear, contract progression, faction progression, and player level.
However, players will keep their achievements and cosmetics, titles, and other rewards from reaching milestones. Your Codex progression also carries over. Elsewhere, your liaison contract progression carries over, so you don’t need to unlock the factions every season.
“Seasonal resets mean that the game stays dangerous, loot feels meaningful, and there’s always a good opportunity to get back into the game or bring a friend in without feeling behind the curve,” Bungie said, explaining its decision. “It’s a way to say goodbye to the old, welcome the new, and kick off a journey from zero-to-hero with new ways to play, content to master, and things to discover.”
The extraction shooter launches on March 5 alongside Season 1, called First Step. This includes a community drive to unlock the way into orbit and the fourth zone, called Cryo Archive, although Bungie didn’t say what the community unlock will involve.
“Prepare your mind and shell to take on this end-game zone on the Marathon ship, where you’ll solve security puzzles, unseal frozen vaults, and come face-to-face with an entity even the UESC fears,” Bungie said. Then, during the second half of March, Ranked mode will unlock. We don’t have much information on how it will work, but Ranked mode will offer exclusive rewards.
Bungie also outlined the Marathon launch content:
- Complete faction and contract progression
- All six factions, including Sekiguchi Genetics
- All six launch Runner shells, including Thief
- Three zones, including Outpost
- Outpost will unlock the day after launch, giving the community time to gear up and unlock the zone at Runner Level 12
- 28 weapons, plus mods, implants, cores, and more to craft your perfect builds
- Earnable cosmetics, achievements, and storytelling through the Codex
Bungie even went as far to reveal Season 2, called Nightfall, which will bring a nighttime version of Dire Marsh, a new Runner shell, and new weapons, mods, cores, and contracts. Nightfall will introduce the Cradle, a new system “designed to give you more autonomy over your Runner shell’s statistical strengths and weaknesses.”
“As we build upon each season, Marathon will continue to grow and evolve,” Bungie said. “The game and world today and a year from now should feel meaningfully different as we add new features and go on the journey of discovering what happened to the colonists of Tau Ceti… and what happens when you dig up secrets that are better left buried.”
We’ve got plenty more on Marathon, including one Bungie developer’s commitment to “fontslop.” Check out IGN’s Marathon review so far to find out what we think.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
