Bungie has announced a closed technical test for its forthcoming shooter Marathon, which will take place later this month.
The limited, invite-only test will be in North America and Europe across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam, with players able to sign-up now. The test itself will take place from 22nd – 27th October.
Marathon was fully revealed back in April, but in June Bungie indefinitely delayed the extraction shooter due to “passionate” fan feedback that was heavily critical.
Since then, Bungie has run several closed tests to gather further feedback. Now, it’s opening the playtests further.
“This is an important checkpoint for us as we test our improvements since Alpha, including three maps, five runner shells, prox chat, re-tuned combat pacing, solo queue, deeper environmental storytelling, and more,” said Bungie. “That said, the Technical Test build is a work in progress and will only include a portion of what’s planned for Marathon’s full release, focused on the early player experience.”
A public update on Marathon’s development is due “in the coming months”, following this playtest.
The test is also under NDA, meaning feedback won’t be made public.
Development of Marathon feels like a critical time for Bungie. Following its acquisition by Sony back in 2022, Bungie has failed to release a hit game, Destiny 2 player counts have dropped, and the company has been rocked by accusations of toxicity right up until this year.
Bungie admitted after Marathon’s reveal the game used an external artist’s work without permission and morale was reportedly in “free fall” as it dealt with the response to the game.
CEO Pete Parsons has since left the company after years of criticism and layoffs.
As for Sony, it’s keen not to repeat mistakes made in the release of the ill-fated live-service shooter Concord, which Marathon has already been compared to. Back in August, chief financial officer Lin Tao admitted the company’s live-service strategy is “not entirely going smoothly”.
