Tuesday, April 15th 2025
Bungie Devs Go In-depth into Marathon's Gameplay Systems - Closed Alpha Test Starts April 23
Over the past weekend we shared the first look at Marathon's gameplay in our livestream from Bungie headquarters, and now we're here to recap the highlights! In the Gameplay Reveal Showcase, we sat down with game director Joe Ziegler, franchise art director Joseph Cross, senior design lead Lars Bakken, gameplay director Andrew Witts, and senior social media manager Andy Salisbury to chat about everything from favorite Runners to gunplay to expanding the Marathon legacy. Want to see the full show? Check out the VOD below. It has all of the videos you'll see here, plus a bunch of extra details and fun moments with the team.
UP FIRST... Important dates and our first playtest
The Marathon Closed Alpha Test runs from April 23 to May 4, and Marathon launches on September 23, 2025. Wishlist on Steam to keep up with the latest news. Want to sign up for your chance to join the first playtest? Join the official Discord and follow the steps in the server to sign up. We'll be inviting players at the start of the playtest and throughout the playtest, so keep an eye on your inbox. The Closed Alpha Test will be available to players who are 18+ and located in North America. It'll be a fairly small playtest as we test our technical capabilities and gather important feedback before bigger tests. We know there are lots of you who won't be able to get in (yet), and we see you. Please hold tight! We'll be there soon
We kicked off the livestream with a trailer showing a high-speed look at Marathon's gameplay. It's a good place to start, if you want a lot of vibes and gunplay action.
One final surprise... A visit to Tau Ceti in the Cinematic Short
Storytelling in multiplayer games does have challenges, but we're committed to doing it and doing it well. With Marathon, we want to tell stories and build a world in which those stories can and will unfold. "Marathon's revival is both a reimagining of and a direct successor to the original games," says Narrative Director Julia Nardin. "We want to honor the franchise's history while creating a new point-of-entry for fans."
"Those who have been with Bungie from the very beginning will recognize characters, locations and events from the original trilogy, but they may also discover that those events played out slightly differently than they might remember," says Nardin. One of our goals is for each season of Marathon to bring new mysteries and stories for you and your friends to explore. Some of this will happen through in-game moments—like community events, missions, in-world collectibles, and more—and some of it will go beyond the game, like with our recent ARG and today's cinematic short.
Our reveal short was a collaboration between our team at Bungie and writer and director Alberto Mielgo, who you might recognize as the director of "The Witness" and "Jibaro" in Love, Death & Robots.
No Runners were harmed in the making of this film (we promise)
What comes next?
That's all we had time for before the UESC kicked us all out (typical UESC 🙄). But really, thank you to everyone who joined us on stream, is reading this post now, solved puzzles in the ARG, or shared your excitement with us. We'll be sharing so much more in the weeks and months ahead. If you'd like to keep up with the latest news and join our team for things like live Q+As in the future, come join us in the community Discord!
We'll also be popping into the comments, so hit us with your thoughts, questions, and anything you want to hear more about. 🐛
Source:
Marathon on Steam
UP FIRST... Important dates and our first playtest
The Marathon Closed Alpha Test runs from April 23 to May 4, and Marathon launches on September 23, 2025. Wishlist on Steam to keep up with the latest news. Want to sign up for your chance to join the first playtest? Join the official Discord and follow the steps in the server to sign up. We'll be inviting players at the start of the playtest and throughout the playtest, so keep an eye on your inbox. The Closed Alpha Test will be available to players who are 18+ and located in North America. It'll be a fairly small playtest as we test our technical capabilities and gather important feedback before bigger tests. We know there are lots of you who won't be able to get in (yet), and we see you. Please hold tight! We'll be there soon
One final surprise... A visit to Tau Ceti in the Cinematic Short
Storytelling in multiplayer games does have challenges, but we're committed to doing it and doing it well. With Marathon, we want to tell stories and build a world in which those stories can and will unfold. "Marathon's revival is both a reimagining of and a direct successor to the original games," says Narrative Director Julia Nardin. "We want to honor the franchise's history while creating a new point-of-entry for fans."
"Those who have been with Bungie from the very beginning will recognize characters, locations and events from the original trilogy, but they may also discover that those events played out slightly differently than they might remember," says Nardin. One of our goals is for each season of Marathon to bring new mysteries and stories for you and your friends to explore. Some of this will happen through in-game moments—like community events, missions, in-world collectibles, and more—and some of it will go beyond the game, like with our recent ARG and today's cinematic short.
Our reveal short was a collaboration between our team at Bungie and writer and director Alberto Mielgo, who you might recognize as the director of "The Witness" and "Jibaro" in Love, Death & Robots.
No Runners were harmed in the making of this film (we promise)
What comes next?
That's all we had time for before the UESC kicked us all out (typical UESC 🙄). But really, thank you to everyone who joined us on stream, is reading this post now, solved puzzles in the ARG, or shared your excitement with us. We'll be sharing so much more in the weeks and months ahead. If you'd like to keep up with the latest news and join our team for things like live Q+As in the future, come join us in the community Discord!
We'll also be popping into the comments, so hit us with your thoughts, questions, and anything you want to hear more about. 🐛
2 Comments on Bungie Devs Go In-depth into Marathon's Gameplay Systems - Closed Alpha Test Starts April 23
BUT, I do applaud the look, its actually pretty unique, not pretty, infact it almost looks like textures are just applied wrong, ya know, errors we have seen in games of old....but intentional, idk the look is out there so that is cool but the game....eh.