It’s no secret that Marathon has had a rough time since launching in March 2026, but Bungie is hard at work on new game modes that it’s hoping will breathe new life into the game.
Prevously, Bungie teased that new game modes were coming to Marathon, and even released an ‘experimental’ mode with Vault Breaker. Today, the company posted on Twitter detailing the new ways people can play game. The Extraction modes that it was launched with aren’t going anywhere, but Bungie will be adding a team deathmatch mode, along with new PvE modes that should be reminiscent of Destiny. Bungie will also be expanding Perimeter, essentially its tutorial level, to be closer in scope to other full zones.
Bungie’s goal seems to be limiting the friction that new players feel and letting them filter themselves into more familiar gameplay types. That should, in theory, let people ease themselves into the traditional extraction mode that’s proven so divisive.
— Marathon (@MarathonTheGame) September 24, 2026
All of this new content and game modes aren’t going to come at the same time, though. In its post, Bungie laid out a road map, with a Nightfall refresh coming first in October. Then, in December, there will be the Symbiosis update, which will bring Marathon’s first permanent PvE mode, along with Team Deathmatch. Bungie doesn’t go into a lot of detail on what this new PvE mode will look like, but says it will give more details closer to launch.
In March, which will mark Marathon’s one-year anniversary, Bungie is planning a much larger update that will apparently link all of these gameplay modes together. There will also be a new onboarding experience, which the company previewed a little bit in a behind-the-scenes documentary that dropped earlier today. There will even be a giant Tick Queen.
All of these updates seem like a promising way to bring players back to Marathon, but only time will tell if it’s enough. Either way, Bungie will be returning to Destiny, starting with returning vaulted content back to Destiny 2. Beyond that, it seems like fans have convinced Bungie to return to Destiny long-term, with developer Poria Torkan saying, “Bungie wouldn’t be what it is today without it. It’s the foundation upon which everything else rests, and we are absolutely not done with Destiny.”
