Marathon Is Already Going Free-To-Play After Troubled Launch

Taking inspiration from its name, Bungie is preparing Marathon for a long lifetime, not just a crash-and-burn drop like XDefiant and many like-minded FPS disasters.

Marathon is here for the long haul.

But its launch was not without trouble. In fact, while it impressed critics with its opening gameplay and fresh appearance, players who have invested serious hours into the extraction shooter came away rather confused.

There's definitely a case of the 'release now, fix later' trend here, and multiple patches have been added already, trying to steady a stinking ship.

Now, Season 2 is set to arrive in Marathon as its pivotal turning point, and desperate to avoid being the next Concord, Bungie is opening its doors for free.

Marathon Celebrates Season 2 With Free-To-Play Week

The extraction shooter is doing its damnedest to try and bring new players in as well as rewarding loyalists, and Season 2 will bring in a wealth of new features.

Plunging areas like the Dire Marsh Zone into the depths of the night to offer a varied way of infiltrating defense settlements, the game will also benefit from new weaponry and customisation features in its ongoing live-service support.

But most importantly, it's going to be free.

From June 2 to June 9, Marathon is going completely free to play on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC, giving players the chance to get a real taste for its difficult and entertaining grind before pulling the rug from under them.

Bungie

Marathon's free week might have come at the perfect time, too. Having seen a lot of the crinkles already get ironed out with a key patch back in March, it will be the first time when quality of life corrections will play second fiddle to new features.

Now that Marathon can stand on its own two feet, it's time to expand on the experience,

before the tape on the finishing line approaches.

But a word of advice for any new Marathon players: complete the tutorial.

Unfortunately, a wealth of players ditched the game in the first week alone, citing difficulty issues, and it's no shock considering that 97 percent of players skipped the opening scenes and tried to rawdog the game's mechanics.

So go steady. After all, it's a Marathon, not a sprint.

Anyone who decides to try Marathon during this period will be able to keep all of their progress if they choose to buy the game in full at a later date or take advantage of any other freebie pockets.

There are also ways to get Marathon for cheaper than its $40 price tag, with PC users being directed to a third-party site to save 20 percent on the shooter.

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