The Marathon community has successfully unlocked the Cryo Archive map and Bungie is giving players more details on what to expect as well as when they’ll be able to access it. After a lengthy development cycle and a big delay, Marathon finally launched earlier this month. While it may not have dethroned ARC Raiders, Marathon seems to have carved out its own space within the extraction shooter genre, and with Bungie continuing to update, tweak, and release new content, it could entice players to continue logging in well into the future.
Marathon is already living up to its claim as a live service title as Bungie has continued to release updates, changes, and new content just weeks after the title initially launched. While Bungie certainly has plenty of experience in the live-service field thanks to its previous work with the Destiny franchise, the studio has seemingly taken things to another level with the speed of its changes applied. Already, Bungie has addressed numerous fan frustrations, including improving Marathon‘s vault space stacking, while making major adjustments to the battle pass and premium currency known as LUX. As Bungie continues to tweak the in-game experience, new content is now on the way which should not only provide a new challenge, but offer some of the best loot as well.
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Marathon Cryo Archive Map Requirements
The Marathon community has cracked another Bungie ARG and has finally unlocked the Cryo Archive map. In response, Bungie released a lengthy blog post revealing more details about the mysterious endgame-level map while also teasing what sort of experience players are in for. As expected, Cryo Archive takes place within the “first deck” of the UESC Marathon ship, heavily implying how large the ship actually is and could see other areas open up in the future. The map also has different rules that players may need to learn over multiple runs, as the blog teases that exfil zones are less reliable and may require players to adapt.
Bungie calls Cryo Archive a pinnacle challenge for Marathon, adding raid-style puzzles to solve, new mechanics to master, all while trying to stay alive against other players and AI enemies. Players will need to improve their Security Clearance, something which has to be done over the course of a run by interacting with the ship’s systems. The higher the clearance level, the more access to various rooms, doors, and even exfils players will have. The real prize is behind the Cryo Archive’s seven heavily-secured vaults, which Bungie confirms will house some of the best loot in the game, filled with Unique gold weapons and high-tier valuables, materials, and equipment.
Balance the critic averages
Balance the critic averages
Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)
However, unlike the other Marathon maps, Cryo Archive is considered part of the end-game experience and therefore isn’t available to everyone. Specifically, Cryo Archive is only open to Runners who are at least level 25, unlocked all six of Marathon‘s factions, and have a minimum loadout value of 5,000 credits. Keep in mind, this refers to the value of the player’s equipped gear, so it stands to reason that players won’t be able to slap on low tier gear, they’ll need to be willing to put some good stuff on the line in order to access the map. For players who meet these requirements and don’t want to sacrifice anything on the first run, typically for learning, they’ll receive a one-time Cryo Archive Sponsored Kit from the Armory filled with blue-tier gear.
Not only that, Bungie has placed even more restrictions on it, making it only available during weekends, similar to the Trials of Osiris game mode in Destiny 2. As the blog post reveals, Cryo Archive officially opens on Friday, March 20 and will be available to play over weekends, designed to be tackled by a crew of three, so don’t expect to take Marathon‘s solo friendly Rook class into this map. Bungie teases plenty of secrets for players to uncover during these runs as well, so it’ll be interesting to see how Marathon continues to evolve from here.
- Released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen / Animated Blood, Language, Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
