Bungie's Delayed Shooter Marathon Re-Emerges With New Xbox Playtest

Back in the summer, Destiny dev Bungie delayed its upcoming extraction shooter Marathon due to mixed feedback from the team's 2025 Alpha test, but that hasn't discouraged them - as a new playtest has now been announced for later this month.

Marathon's next tech test goes ahead October 22 through October 28, and is a limited, invite-only playtest for players in North America and Europe. If you're interested you can sign up now via the Bungie website, and players will be selected from October 16th.

Here's what to expect from the playtest:

"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.

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."

Bungie adds that players will hear more about Marathon's full release "in the coming months after the Closed Technical Test" - and the last we heard, Sony is pushing to release this one before April 2026. We'll let you know as soon as we hear more!

We'll also chuck the team's tech test FAQ down below:

CLOSED TECHNICAL TEST SIGNUP FAQ

  • How long will the Closed Technical Test run?
    • The Closed Technical Test will run from October 22 at 10AM PT, to October 28 at 10AM PT.
    • Participation in previous tests doesn’t guarantee participation in this or future tests.
  • How do I know if I’ve been invited?
    • You will receive an official email from Bungie.
    • Closed Technical Test invites will be sent in waves throughout the test.
  • If I’ve played in the Alpha or other NDA’d playtest, am I automatically invited to the Closed Technical Test?
    • No, you’ll need to apply and be invited to the Closed Technical Test to participate.
  • Am I allowed to stream, record, or share my playtest experience?
    • This test is strictly under an NDA, and as such you will not be able to stream or share your playtest experience publicly.
    • Any feedback or recordings will need to be shared only in the NDA’d section of the Marathon Official Discord.
  • Can I share my invite with someone else (friends/family)?
    • Your invite is specific to you, the Bungie.net account you signed up with, and the Discord account you provided during the sign-up process. You will not be able to share it.
  • How do I get access to the NDA Discord?
    • Join the official Discord at discord.gg/marathonthegame. We will add the Discord account name you provided during sign-up to our NDA’d section. Access for the NDA’d Discord channels can take up to 24 hours to update.
    • For those joining after the test has begun, we’ll be conducting role grants daily in the evening for the duration of the test.
    • For Steam users, you’ll need to take the survey you receive in-game to provide your Discord and Bungie.net account names.
  • How do I report bugs or provide feedback?
    • For bug reporting, you will need a Bungie.net account to access the Marathon Help Center Forums.
    • For feedback, we will be sending out surveys to your email. Additionally, you can provide feedback in our NDA section in Discord.
    • Access for both the forums and Discord can take up to 24 hours to update.
  • What regions are allowed in?
    • North America
    • Europe
  • What are the minimum system requirements?
    • Console:
      • PlayStation 5
      • Xbox Series S
    • PC:
      • Processor: Intel Core i5-6600
      • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
      • RAM: 8GB RAM

You gonna apply to this and try out Marathon again? Talk to us of your plans down below.

[source bungie.net]