Marathon‘s recently launched Cryo Archive endgame zone has generated a strong, positive response from the player base, and Bungie has taken to social media to acknowledge this success and ask for more feedback to keep improving on it. The Cryo Archive is functionally Marathon‘s equivalent to Destiny raids, and it serves as the ultimate test of players’ abilities, perseverance, and luck as it currently stands.
Despite the initial bout of review bombing Marathon got, Bungie’s revival of the classic boomer shooter franchise appears to have found its audience. A PvPvE extraction shooter, Marathon is a wildly different experience from anything fans got in Destiny and thus launched with plenty of uncertainty about it. Bungie is approaching the project with positivity and a seeming desire to continue improving on it, however, and the community appears to have recognized its efforts.
Marathon Testing Exciting New Mode That Could Become Permanent in the Future
Bungie expands Marathon’s gameplay modes with an experimental new option for players who want more ways to enjoy the new PvPvE shooter.
Marathon Game Director Is Asking for More Feedback, Highlights Key Topics
As per Marathon game director Joe Ziegler’s comments over on Twitter, Bungie is poring over player feedback already, and the team is eager to hear more from the community. The main topics Ziegler has singled out so far have to do with some of Marathon‘s uniquely quirky approach to Cryo Archive itself: scheduling is a big deal, as the Cryo Archive is only available on weekends. Similarly, Subroutine discs are not guaranteed drops upon accessing the Cryo Archive, and that feels like a miss given how involved accessing the mode actually is. Finally, Bungie is also looking at options for solo players, as there’s no way to play Cryo Archive without a full three-player team. “Any of these may take some time to figure out so I can’t guarantee quick solutions,” Ziegler explained, adding that “[Bungie will] definitely discuss these topics as a team this week.”
While it would be easy to dismiss Ziegler’s comments as mere attempts at positive PR, it’s very notable that Bungie has been improving Marathon rapidly in the background, with player feedback specifically being taken into account. There’s a pointed effort to make the game as engaging to its community as possible, and this may well set the stage for improved player engagement and long-term development. Things can always change over time, of course, but this is a very player and community-centric approach for now.
Review bombing aside, Marathon scored plenty of positive reviews even early on, and there are always thousands of players enjoying the game on PC alone. Marathon got an all-time peak of just over 88,000 concurrent players on Steam, with between 15 and 50,000 concurrent players logging in daily. It’s not the kind of smash hit that could keep Bungie going on its own yet, and it didn’t dethrone Arc Raiders, but it’s a very far cry from anything resembling the infamous Concord as well, which is great news.
Balance the critic averages
Balance the critic averages
Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)
The community is already responding to Ziegler’s request for feedback with requests for improvements, and one of the more surprising bits is that some are asking for dedicated PvE game modes specifically. PvP in Marathon can get very punishing really quickly for players focusing on the game’s PvE aspects, but the PvPvE hybrid approach is a crucial element of how intense and challenging the experience is. Bungie might not wish to pursue PvE specifically, but substantially more hardcore games like Escape from Tarkov and Gray Zone Warfare do have them, so it could go either way.
- 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
