Marathon Server Slam Starts Tomorrow

- The upcoming game is a revival of Bungie's *Marathon* trilogy, a series of first-person shooters released for the Apple Macintosh between 1994 and 1996. The original series is considered a spiritual predecessor to the *Halo* franchise. - It is a sci-fi extraction shooter set on the planet Tau Ceti IV, where players embody cybernetic mercenaries called "Runners". The core gameplay involves fighting other players and AI enemies to secure loot and safely extract. - Players will select from a roster of characters known as "Runner Shells," each with different skills, rather than creating a custom character. Six different shells, including the stealthy Assassin and the aggressive Destroyer, will be available at launch. - The game is set for a full release on March 5, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and will not be free-to-play. - Full cross-play and cross-save functionality will be supported across all platforms from day one. - Joe Ziegler, the former game director for *Valorant*, has taken over as the game director for *Marathon*, replacing Bungie veteran Christopher Barrett. - The Server Slam event is designed to stress test the game's infrastructure and will feature two of the four planned launch maps, Perimeter and Dire Marsh.