Bungie's indefinitely delayed Marathon surfaces with an NDA playtest with solo queue and proximity chat

Bungie has pushed its indefinitely delayed extraction shooter Marathon back on track with a closed technical test, starting from October 22 at 10 am PT through October 28 at 10 am PT, making this its first public-facing playtest opportunity since the delay announcement.

Users can sign up for the session, and a select few players from North America and Europe on the PS5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC via Steam will be allowed to participate in the closed playtest.

Players can sign up for Marathon’s playtest until October 16. However, players will have to adhere to a non-disclosure agreement, preventing players from sharing any footage or feedback online, as the build represents early work-in-progress.&

Bungie also iterated that prior involvement in alpha testing will not ensure players' selection for this round. The test is expected to allow players to provide feedback on improvements based on community input since Marathon’s reveal in May 2023.

The playtest will feature three distinct maps, five customizable runner shells, proximity chat, fine-tuned combat pacing, the ability to solo queue, and better visual storytelling to immerse players in the world of Tau Ceti IV.

Bungie announced in a new post, “The Technical Test is a work in progress and will only include a portion of what’s planned for Marathon’s full release, focused on player experience.”

The studio plans to release a comprehensive public update on Marathon’s progress in the months following the technical test, and potentially address its changed 2026 launch window.

Marathon has faced a bumpy development cycle ever since its announcement, as the studio delayed the title indefinitely in June 2025 after “passionate” but largely negative fan reactions to initial trailers and gameplay overviews, with gamers comparing the game to Sony’s failed live-service project Concord.

Furthermore, Bungie has not been faring so well with its main IP, as Destiny 2’s Edge of Fate expansion replaced its seasonal update model. The game’s player count has tanked to a historically low 16,067 players on SteamDB.

This is due to the Edge of Fate expansion and the game being restricted in countries like Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Some players who have logged more than 2,000 hours on Destiny 2 have even requested refunds for all DLC on Steam, to which Valve happily obliged.