Marathon’s experimental PvE mode is live, immediately tripling its daily player count

Bungie has launched Vault Breaker, an experimental player-versus-environment mode for Marathon, temporarily allowing players to explore the Cryo Archive map without competing teams. Its arrival was followed by a sharp rise in Steam activity, suggesting that a less stressful alternative to the game’s usual extraction format may appeal to more players and could inform Bungie’s longer-term plans.

The two-week mode was added in update 1.1.5 and raised concurrent Steam players to more than 14,800, roughly three times the level seen at similar times during the previous week. Players collect Vault Data for permanent kit upgrades or gear usable in standard matches, rather than retaining loot found during a run; the update also adds progression changes and new voice moderation and reporting tools.