Bungie Unveils New Marathon Short Film and Confirms September Release Date

This past Saturday, Bungie gave gaming fans a fresh look at its upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon, during a livestream event. Initially unveiled in May 2023, Marathon had been shrouded in mystery as Bungie kept details under wraps. However, with its launch date set for September 23rd, the studio is now pulling back the curtain and revealing more about what players can expect.

The event kicked off with a brief introduction, followed by an eye-catching trailer that you can check out above. After the trailer, some of Bungie’s developers dove deeper into the game mechanics. They were followed by an extended trailer with narration by Ben Starr, known for his work in Final Fantasy 16 and Balatro. This segment explained the ins and outs of Marathon’s gameplay.

In the world of Marathon, players step into the roles of Runners—bio-cybernetic mercenaries. Working in squads of three, they’ll be dropped onto varied maps on the colony of Tau Ceti IV. Once they hit the ground, the mission is to scour the environment for loot and complete contracts for their respective factions. Players will also run into others, and opportunities for hostile encounters abound, where killing opponents means claiming their spoils. If you successfully extract from Tau Ceti IV, you get to keep all the gear you’ve collected. However, dying means leaving everything, even items you entered with, behind.

Following the in-depth discussions, the livestream wrapped up with a short film set in the Marathon universe, directed by Alberto Mielgo. Mielgo, who won an Oscar in 2022 for “The Windshield Wiper,” has worked on acclaimed projects like Love, Death & Robots and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. His film showcases the brutal world of the Runners, vividly depicting their bodies being torn apart, mixed with tests reminiscent of Blade Runner’s Voight-Kampff.

Marathon will be available on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, a somewhat surprising move given Sony’s purchase of Bungie early in 2022. For those eager to get hands-on early, sign-ups for the Marathon alpha test, beginning April 23rd, are open.

Interestingly, Bungie refrained from discussing Marathon’s pricing during the stream. However, a representative confirmed to Polygon that unlike many current games, Marathon will not be free-to-play and will come with an upfront cost. Details on the pricing and any post-launch monetization plans remain under wraps for now.