An open beta for Bungie’s upcoming shooter Marathon is coming very soon. Announced during Sony’s recent State of Play, the open beta is coming to all platforms–PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S–and will take place February 26 through March 2.
The “server slam,” as it’s called, will let players try the game at the low cost of $0 just before it releases on March 5. In short, if you’re curious about Marathon, this is your chance to try it out before you have to plunk down money to get in.
When is the Marathon open beta?
The Marathon open beta, or server slam as Bungie wants us to call it, runs February 26 through March 2. The specific times can be seen below.
Start time: February 26 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET
End time: March 2 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET
How to get in to the Marathon open beta
Bungie did not share specifics on how exactly you’ll be able to access the open beta. However, it should hopefully be as simple as navigating to the game’s store page on your preferred platform and launching from there. We’ll circle back with more specifics if Bungie shares them.
What’s in the Marathon open beta
During the server slam, players will get to experience an “introduction to Marathon’s gameplay.” This includes “enough to get comfortable, not enough to see everything,” according to Bungie.
Here is what’s in the Marathon open beta, as written by Bungie:
- Infil into two zones:
- Perimeter, an edge-site expansion on the colony’s outskirts
- Dire Marsh, the colony’s agricultural research hub
- Take on the early contracts for five factions: CyberAcme, NuCaloric, Traxus, MIDA, and Arachne
- Progress though the early faction levels and progression trees for each faction
- Try out five of the six Runner shells that will be available at launch, plus our scavenger experience Rook
- Play as a crew, solo Runner, form uneasy alliances with proximity chat, and more
Rewards for playing the Marathon open beta
Bungie is encouraging people to try the Marathon open beta by offering up rewards in the form of extra gear. People who complete the introductory mission will get a “unique emblem and player background,” while players can unlock more content at certain milestones. The perks will be available when Marathon launches in March. Here’s the rundown (as written by Bungie):
- Complete your first mission: Unlock the Standard Arrival Cache
- Standard implants (6x)
- Standard Runner shell cores (4x)
- Standard weapon chip mods (6x)
- Weapons: Overrun and Hardline
- Reach Runner Level 10: Unlock the Enhanced Arrival Cache (Green)
- Enhanced implants (6x)
- Enhanced Runner shell cores (2x for each shell, 12x total)
- Enhanced weapon chip mods (4x)
- Weapons: Enhanced Magnum and Enhanced Hardline
- Reach Runner Level 30: Unlock the Deluxe Arrival Cache (Blue)
- Deluxe and Enhanced implants (3x each, 6x total)
- Deluxe and Enhanced Runner shell cores (1x each for each shell, 12x total)
- Deluxe and Enhanced weapon chip mods (2x each, 4x total)
- Weapons: Deluxe Magnum and Enhanced Volley Rifle
- Backpack: Deluxe Base Backpack
PlayStation Plus perks for the Marathon open beta
PlayStation Plus subscribers are getting special bonuses for taking part in the server slam. These include weapon charms based on other Sony games, including Ghost of Yotei, Death Stranding 2, and Helldivers 2. These include:
- Ghost of Yōtei – Onryō Weapon Charm
- Death Stranding 2 – Battle Guitar Weapon Charm
- Helldivers 2 – For Freedom Weapon Charm
You can see images of these weapon charms below.
PS Plus members can redeem these from the PlayStation Store in March when Marathon launches. Additionally, Bungie said there will be weapon charms for Steam and Xbox players, but the studio is not sharing details on those just yet.
The existence of an open beta is no surprise, as Bungie said in January that it would offer a free test for the game for everyone at some point before launch.
Everyone who takes part in the server slam will get a special emblem and player banner that denotes that they played the beta.
Marathon has endured multiple controversies already, with Bungie settling a case after art plagiarism allegations, while the studio has also faced questions about whether games like Marathon are remnants of the past. In GameSpot’s preview of Marathon from April 2025, GameSpot’s Tamoor Hussain said, “A paid game that is light on content but full of hopes, dreams, and ambitions may not be enough to inspire in others the same confidence I have in Bungie.”
Marathon was delayed indefinitely in June 2025, with Bungie writing at the time that it needed more time to “craft Marathon into the game that truly reflects your passion.” Bungie went dark for some time before recently resurfacing to announce a March 5 release date at a $40 price point.
Preorders alone have pushed Marathon into Steam’s best-seller list, so there are signs of momentum ahead of launch.
Marathon is the latest entry in Bungie’s series, which began in 1994. Sequels were released in 1995 and 1996, meaning the new Marathon is coming out 30 years after the last one.
