If you found your schedule didn’t quite fit with Marathon over the weekend, forcing you to choose between the Cryo Archive map and ranked queue, you may be a big fan of the latest change coming in from the developers at Bungie.
This change mixes around when these two timed modes will be playable. Rather than both ranked and Cryo Archive largely coinciding, now they were link into each other. Cryo Archive will start at Thursday 10AM PT, then end on Sunday 10AM PT. Following this, Ranked will open up starting Sunday 10AM PT, and end on Thursday 10AM PT.
This was announced via the Marathon development team X account, which presented this new schedule alongside the following message: “We’ve heard your feedback that having Ranked and Cryo Archive overlap can make it difficult to decide where to spend your time and hard-earned loot. Based on that, we’re updating their schedules so each has a clear, focused window.”
The announcement also ends with an emphasis that feedback is being welcomed, a sentiment that rings true given a recent change with special subroutine drops within Cryo Archive loot vaults as well as a matchmaking improvement for those playing from “isolated geographical regions”. Of the big three gripes left standing, only a solo Cryo Archive option is left standing, perhaps the most troublesome to address.
This shift in timing is ultimately good, though some thoughts must be paid to those with very busy weekday schedules who may find themselves unable to dedicate as much time to the ranked grind as before. Still, with both ranked and Cryo being loot sinks – meaning game modes you lose powerful gear in – having one always available prevents those who’ve earned some truly absurd loot during the weekend causing havoc on relatively beginner friendly maps. This way, they can instead invest their spoils into ranked progression.
Whether this new schedule sticks remains to be seen, but here’s hoping Bungie manages to find some fine balance that keeps both the hardcore grinders and casual dabblers happy.
