puzzle solvers and solution sleuths gathering together in search of a glorious prize. That prize is, of course, unlocking the Cryo Archive map for the entire playerbase of Bungie’s new extraction shooter. It’s also a chance for players to make their mark in the game’s legacy, to be one piece of the history Marathon.
If there is a hub for such an endeavor, it begins on Discord. Within the official Marathon server exists a public-facing gathering place for those interested in the current stage of the ARG (that’s ‘alternate reality game’). Dig a little deeper however – pull back the curtain and walk into the back room where the big money players linger – and you’ll have arrived at the Breachers of Tomorrow.
As of writing, a major breakthrough has occurred. The ARG is split into seven individual puzzles, with the illustrious Cryo Archive locked behind this collection of brain-teasers. The Marathon community has just completed the fourth. But how did we get here, and what challenges face these digital pioneers out in Tau Ceti IV?
“I can’t remember who said this originally, but I liked the saying ‘The first step took bodies, the second takes brains’,” one lead figure in the Breachers of Tomorrow Discord told Eurogamer. Going by the pseudonym Trombone, he was keen to give me some insight into the group’s actions so far. “Up until very recently, we had no direction at all. We were kind of blindly searching through the game looking for any hint with no context on what to look for, other than what we needed was some string for a password.”
This password, used to unlock the index page on the Cryo Archive ARG website, has since been cracked. Courtesy of some hard work and a vague clue by the Marathon team, it turned out to be a combination of words spoken by the AI Durandal during the first step of the ARG. Following this, these sleuths were thrust back into the game itself to interact with hidden terminals, which all featured mathematical symbols. Inserting these into a grid on the ARG website revealed an image, and completed a step. Then there was a digital maze with no guidance on what to do within its walls. In spite of these steep odds, in the early hours of this morning, someone cracked it: a specific combination, in what appeared to be endless looping rooms, led to the completion of the fourth major step… and a new wave of uncertainty as players scratch their heads aboutwhat’s next.
Throughout this process, one of the hardest steps is communication. Trying to wrangle different people around the world, pushing them towards current objectives in hopes they can aid the cause, is tough. “I love seeing all the new people getting involved with the ARG, and the more people the better, but because of the nature of discord as a communication tool, and the way the ARG has been set up by Bungie, we see so many of the same questions,” Trombone says. “Things like ‘Hey what is this channel for?’ or ‘Hey what even is an ARG?’ are asked incredibly frequently, and I get it. This isn’t my first ARG rodeo luckily, but there isn’t a ton of information readily available out there. I was asking the same stuff the first time I participated in something like this.
“Even more than that, especially with the first step, trying to get everyone on the same page, doing one thing, for one step, is incredibly difficult. Everyone has their own theories on what is happening, and when it comes time to try to coordinate something, people have questions. But similar to above, a lot of those questions end up getting asked 30 times over, and for people trying to coordinate something, it becomes challenging to get everyone single-minded. It’s all out of love though, everyone is working towards the same goal. Disagreements are bound to happen, and when your only communication vessel is a discord chat scrolling past you faster than the speed of light, it’s hard to stay on top of things. It is also hard to communicate to people why they should participate in this ARG anyway. Many of your average extraction shooter players are more focused on the loot you have on your body than whatever you are trying to say to them in proximity chat.”
So why are Marathon players so engaged (aside from the obvious justification of big content being locked behind the ARG)? Well, from Trombone’s perspective, it may come down to the specificities of Marathon that push against genre norms.
“I think extraction shooters obviously attract a very different audience from other games that traditionally feature ARGs or large puzzles, at least personally. Speaking anecdotally, there are exceptions,” Trombone states. “It’s not a bad thing at all, just that the ‘kill kill kill’ mentality traditionally seen in games like Marathon doesn’t necessarily match up with an ARG. There are those willing to give it a shot, though.
“I think because of the nature of the game we are playing, this ARG specifically has a large number of people who are new to ARGs, and are really excited to get involved with something hands-on. Being able to be there when one of the puzzle pieces is put into place, when the community solves something and everyone freaks out and gets all hyped, it’s not a feeling you can recreate in many other environments. A big piece of motivation for people is that the end result is the unlocking of the new Marathon zone Cryo Archive, and there is a sense of accomplishment in participating towards that goal. Getting to walk around that new zone and think ‘I helped unlock this’ is pretty cool.”
What this ARG does for Marathon, in a collaboration of sorts with these dedicated thinkers and sages of virtual mysteries, is build upon the mystery of the game. There’s a real energy around the discussion hubs like Discord, people throwing together ideas, brute-forcing solutions, and coming to light-bulb esq eureka moments. Every time a theory is raised, a roadblock met, and a solution discovered people the hunger for more intensifies. It reminds me of Destiny’s mini-ARG back in 2016, or even Halo 2’s infamous ‘I Love Bees’ ARG.
It’s a strange thing being present during this experimental phase of Marathon’s launch. Even to cheekily write “has anyone tried writing in Marathon yet” during the password conundrum was a peculair experience. The excitement upon seeing a Discord notification at 11PM at night when someone, somewhere, has brought thousands of players closer to a real, playable thing, it’s… well, wonderful. Add this element to an already excellent game, and you have something truly special. I can’t wait until this Cryo Archive mystery is finally cracked.
