Bungie has announced significant changes to Marathon, its struggling extraction-focused shooter, due to sustained player decline. The developer plans a strategic shift away from the hardcore extraction experience towards a more accessible game with multiple gameplay modes and difficulty levels. This represents a fundamental departure from Marathon's original vision, though Bungie aims to preserve the extraction mode for dedicated players whilst broadening appeal to a wider audience.

The overhaul unfolds across three phases. October brings a Nightfall refresh including permanent rewards passes and sponsored kit queues that provide free equipment for matchmaking. December marks the major push for the PvE mode Symbiosis, described as a lower-pressure experience, alongside an experimental Team Deathmatch mode and a new Perimeter map with additional zones. March 2027 will introduce the most substantial changes: an interconnected system combining permanent PvE, PvP and PvEvP experiences, a redesigned onboarding process, a fresh narrative questline, new zones and alien enemies, with emphasis on different intensity levels, solo and crew options, and cooperative gameplay opportunities.