Bungie Offers Free Trial for Marathon for a Limited Time

Bungie is opening the gates to Marathon next week, allowing players to jump into the action for free. As part of the launch of Marathon Season 2, the full game will be available for a free trial from June 2 to June 9 on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC. All progress made during this period will carry over to the full game, making it a great way to try before you buy. This is a clear move by Bungie to attract players, as Marathon has experienced soft sales and underwhelming player counts for a new title.

Marathon Season 2 also plans to add more PvE content to the game to lure in players who are put off by the core modes. The extraction shooter genre has seen major successes, like Arc Raiders, but its premise can be daunting for some, pushing away more casual shooter fans. As always, Bungie has incorporated strong gunplay into Marathon, but some wish it were in a more accessible game. It seems Bungie is trying to cater to those potential players with upcoming content.

Despite sales issues, Marathon has received solid reviews. We gave the game a 9/10, noting: "Marathon is a ruthless and unforgiving extraction shooter that’s worth every ounce of hell it puts you through." It's a promising sign that Marathon has strong fundamentals, because it's all Bungie will have for the foreseeable future. Destiny 2 is ending live-service support in June, and the studio will be turning all its attention to Marathon while figuring out what's next.

Reports indicate that Bungie is not actively working on Destiny 3, nor does it have any other titles in production. Bungie is also expected to suffer "significant" layoffs in the coming weeks and months, likely tied to the fact that the studio has more people than it needs as Destiny 2 winds down. Some are protesting against Marathon following the Destiny 2 news, but it remains to be seen if that will have any meaningful impact.

Either way, it'll be interesting to see if Bungie can win people over with Marathon. If not, it may pose a major danger for the beloved shooter studio. Sony is likely going to be picky about any future projects Bungie pitches, given the high costs associated with developing games at the studio's normal scale. We also likely won't see whatever Bungie's next game is until the 2030s, so Marathon needs to become sustainable for the foreseeable future.