Bungie Opens Marathon Free for 7 Days as Players Fall to 10,000 From 80,000
Updated
Updated · Kotaku · May 27
Bungie Opens Marathon Free for 7 Days as Players Fall to 10,000 From 80,000
11 articles · Updated · Kotaku · May 27
June 2-9, Bungie will open the full version of Marathon on Steam, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with all progress carrying into Season 2 after a clean-slate reset.
About 10,000 concurrent Steam players now remain versus an 80,000 launch peak, prompting a broader push to bring in new users after requests for a fuller trial.
Unlike Marathon's prelaunch beta, the one-week event includes the complete game rather than a reduced slice with wiped progress, giving newcomers access to all maps and runner shells.
Sony has said retention remains strong but Marathon is still underperforming expectations, leaving Bungie to lean on new content, gameplay improvements and user-base expansion as Destiny 2 winds down.
After a sharp player drop, is Marathon's free week a genuine welcome or a desperate move to save the game?
Can a game that resets player gear every season build the large, casual audience it needs to survive?