How Marathon and ARC Raiders Approach the Extraction Shooter Genre Differently

Over the weekend, Bungie hosted a server slam for Marathon that showcased what the developer has been doing since its delay. With many curious how Marathon has changed, the recent server slam offered plenty of insight (thankfully).

Overall, Marathon‘s server slam feedback was a lot more positive than its closed tests last year. There are still a few tweaks that could be made, but Bungie’s extraction shooter is off to a promising start. That said, its most direct competition is ARC Raiders, Embark Studio’s retro-futuristic extraction shooter and one of the biggest hits of 2025. ARC Raiders‘ success has made the anticipation and expectations surrounding Marathon that much more intriguing because it now has a major competitor to go up against. The two may belong under the extraction shooter umbrella, but these games approach the genre in incredibly different ways.

Marathon and ARC Raiders Showcase How Versatile the Extraction Shooter Genre Really Is

The most obvious difference between the two games at first is the perspective. Marathon uses first-person, while ARC Raiders is a third-person game. This may not seem like too big a difference, but they heavily affect the overall feeling of matches. Seeing everything through the eyes of the character really adds an extra dose of anxiety that could appeal to gamers who want a more skill-based experience. ARC Raiders‘ third-person approach plays into the game’s more casual, accessible reputation. The different character perspectives really change how both worlds feel, which is good since comparing Marathon and ARC Raiders is something that extraction shooter fans are going to be doing for a long time.

It’s already clear that Marathon leans a lot harder into PvP than ARC Raiders does, as the latter adapts moreso to how a person plays. ARC Raiders‘ aggression-based matchmaking is a feature that opens it up to a variety of player preferences. Marathon doesn’t have plans to take this same approach, though.

This is bound to be one of the biggest differences between Marathon and ARC Raiders. Since its launch, ARC Raiders has built a reputation for having a community that is surprisingly friendly for an online game. Of course, not every player leans into pacifism. This is what makes the aggression-based matchmaking so special for ARC Raiders. A variety of player types can experience the game how they prefer. On the other hand, Marathon isn’t really about flexibility. It’s focused on a specific goal: get in and get out by any means necessary. Marathon‘s lore and world are more cutthroat, so it only makes sense for the gameplay to reflect that. This is made clear in a few key ways.

• Marathon has a much faster time to kill than ARC Raiders.
• Marathon‘s Heat System (stamina) makes traversal more challenging.

Different Map Sizes Make Marathon and ARC Raiders Feel Worlds Apart

The map sizes of both games are probably going to be one of the main factors that have gamers choosing one over the other. ARC Raiders is full of exploration. Because of its more forgiving nature, players can spend plenty of time simply exploring and taking in the details of ARC Raider‘s maps. The larger scale has been appealing to a lot of gamers, but Marathon takes a more contained approach. The maps in Bungie’s extraction shooter are still quite detailed and fun to explore, but they are designed to push players into combat scenarios.

Once again, this plays into Marathon‘s goal of being a more hardcore extraction shooter that focuses on gunplay, taking on other players, and specific character expressions through Shells. Even though Bungie has a much more specific vision for how it wants Marathon to be experienced, that doesn’t mean players can’t avoid combat. It’s just a lot more difficult.

Meanwhile, Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders 2026 roadmap has already teased more maps on the way. Now that Marathon is staking its claim as the game’s first major competitor, it will be interesting to see if ARC Raiders embraces some smaller map sizes to try and compete. On the other hand, larger maps may ultimately be a feature that gives ARC Raiders its own unique edge.

Loot and Character Progression Show Two Unique Takes On Dystopian Sci-Fi Settings

Marathon and ARC Raiders are both set in futuristic dystopian worlds, but the former is a lot more advanced than the latter. In ARC Raiders‘ world of Speranza, the surviving people live underground and are simply trying to survive the outside threat of ARCs. This is reflected in the game’s looting and progression. ARC Raiders basically has players collecting scraps to craft items and weapons that are incredibly low-tech compared to Marathon‘s loot through tinkering at their base. With Marathon‘s character progression, players have to complete jobs for specific factions. This requires collecting incredibly high-tech loot that raises a player’s standing among the six factions.

Marathon’s Six Factions and What They Do

• CyberAcme – Heat generation and speed
• NuCaloric – Shields
• Traxus – Long-range weapons
• Mida – Equipment and implants
• Arachne – Close-range weapons
• SekGen – Class cores

Marathon‘s release date is almost here, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how the reaction is to the Bungie-made extraction shooter compared to ARC Raiders. It feels incredibly different from ARC Raiders, and that could either work in its favor or against it. Both have the potential to find devoted player bases that last for years, so it will be fun to watch that unfold.