Marathon patch drops
Bungie-style shooter Marathon pushed a major update March 17 that adds the new Cryo Archive map, a raft of QoL fixes and menu overhaul — servers were down ~3–4 hours and were back by 9am PDT on March 17. (gamerant.com) (sportskeeda.com). The update also flips on a limited-time duos queue being tested starting March 18 — players can pair up instead of filling full squads while Bungie gauges popularity. (polygon.com) (kotaku.com)
Bungie labelled the March 17 drop as version 1.0.5 and published full patch notes on its site; the Steam client lists the update at roughly 3.2 GB. (bungie.net) Patch 1.0.5 adds map-specific loot that can only drop in the Cryo Archive: three new random-rolled implant perks named Covert Recovery, Freeloader and Panic Response, plus three Cryo Archive-only mods called Punishment, Testament and Hurricane. (insider-gaming.com) Several gameplay systems were changed in the update, including the ability to activate exfil beacons while downed, reduced camera shake from melee/knife hits, and an increased post-run spectator camera timeout from 30 seconds to 120 seconds. (notebookcheck.net) Inventory and menu friction were targeted with new sorting filters and fewer clicks required to equip or salvage items, alongside vault/storage buffs and PC performance tweaks aimed at speeding pre-run decisions. (infinitestart.com) Bungie scheduled maintenance to deploy the patch starting with sign-on disabled at 5:00 AM PDT and systems being brought offline around 5:30 AM PDT, with a note that players already in runs could finish them; Bungie’s server-status updates showed services returning around 9:00 AM PDT. (help.marathonthegame.com) The limited-time Duos experiment was announced by game director Joe Ziegler and goes live March 18 at 10:00 AM PT (12:00 PM CT), running as roughly a two-week test and initially limited to the Perimeter map so Bungie can measure uptake and balance impact. (dotesports.com)
