Bungie opens Marathon to all players in free week-long trial

Bungie is about to find out whether Marathon can win players back when the paywall comes off. Season 2 begins on June 2, and with it comes an Open Play Week that runs through June 9, giving every player access to the full game on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S with progress carrying into the season.

That makes this far more than a throwaway trial. On PC, access is effectively free during the window, while console players still need their platform subscription for online play, but the larger point is the same: Bungie is asking the game to prove itself on its own terms. Friends will be able to jump in together on a clean slate, sample the entire loop, and keep whatever they earn afterward. For a live-service shooter that has struggled to rebuild trust and population, that is the real test, not just whether people click install.

Season 2 is called NIGHTFALL, and Bungie is coupling the free week with a reset that changes what players hold onto and what they lose. At the start of the season, all assets in Vaults, personalized Armory access, and shell progression will be wiped. Players will keep achievements, non-seasonal Codex progression, and cosmetics. Bungie says the season will also add a new zone, new dangers and secrets, a brand-new defensive shell, and new gear, all of which are meant to make the game feel newly worth inhabiting.

The timing matters because Marathon has already been through a rough stretch. Bungie originally said the game would launch on September 23, 2025 on PS5, Steam, and Xbox Series X|S, then delayed it indefinitely after negative early reception and an art plagiarism controversy. Since then, Bungie has kept iterating through closed tests and seasonal updates, and in a May 14 development update, Joe Ziegler said the studio would discuss more Season 2 content, including Night Marsh, the Cradle progression system, and the Runner shell Sentinel, the week of May 25.

That is why this week-long opening feels bigger than a promotion. Bungie needs queues to fill, matches to hold together, and skeptical players to see a stronger version of Marathon than the one that stumbled out of the gate. If Open Play Week converts, it could become the clearest sign yet that Season 2 is more than a reset on paper. If it doesn’t, the problem around Marathon will remain exactly where it started.