Bungie Unveils Marathon with New Short Film and Announces September Launch

On Saturday, Bungie reignited excitement around its extraction shooter, Marathon, during a live stream. Initially introduced in May 2023, the studio had kept most details under wraps since then. Now, as the game races toward its September 23 release, Bungie is finally lifting the veil on what players can expect from Marathon.

The event kicked off with a dynamic introduction, featuring a snazzy trailer to hook viewers. What followed was even more intriguing—a deeper dive from the developers themselves who shared insights into the game’s design. A lengthier video came next, narrated by none other than Ben Starr, known from Final Fantasy 16 and Balatro, which revealed how the mechanics of Marathon work.

The premise revolves around players becoming Runners, bio-cybernetic mercenaries, each tasked with forming squads of three. Together, these teams of Runners descend onto various maps within the fictional colony of Tau Ceti IV.

Once on the ground, the objective for players is clear: scour the environment for valuable loot and fulfill contracts for their factions. But it’s not just the environment they need to watch—other players are out there too, ready to engage in combat to claim your hard-earned treasures. Successfully extracting means you get to keep all the gear you’ve managed to scavenge. However, meet your demise, and everything in your inventory is lost, including items brought into the match.

As the event wrapped up, attendees were treated to a cinematic short film crafted by Alberto Mielgo, who snagged an Oscar in 2022 for Best Animated Short Film with “The Windshield Wiper.” Mielgo’s work, also seen in “Love, Death & Robots” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” plunges viewers into the gritty life of the Runners. The film features them battling foes and navigating moments that echo the iconic Voight-Kampff test from Blade Runner.

Set to launch on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, it’s interesting to note that Marathon will be available across platforms, even after Bungie’s acquisition by Sony back in early 2022. For those eager to get a taste of the game ahead of launch, sign-ups for the Marathon alpha test, beginning April 23, are now open.

While details on pricing weren’t touched upon during the stream, Bungie has confirmed to Polygon that Marathon will not be free-to-play. Expect an upfront purchase, though specifics on the cost and how Bungie plans to monetize the game post-launch remain under wraps.