Marathon's Release Date Revealed And It Goes Up Against Another FPS

Bungie’s Marathon not only got its gameplay reveal today but also the extraction shooter’s release date, which puts it in the crosshairs of another big first-person shooter franchise.

As part of today’s Marathon stream, Bungie discussed its latest project, which is the studio’s first game since Destiny 2. The studio revealed that Marathon will be released on September 23 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

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Marathon Finally Gets Dated And Its First Gameplay Features A Big Departure From Destiny

Alongside the release date, Bungie also confirmed that the game’s first closed alpha test will kick off later this month, on April 23! Players can sign up via the Marathon Discord channel, though there’s no guarantee they’ll get in.

Interestingly enough, Sony has marked the game’s release on September 23, which puts it on the same release date as Borderlands 4! While Gearbox’s fourth mainline entry in the series is also a first-person shooter, it’s far from being an extraction shooter. Unless, of course, Gearbox changes the core gameplay, which I highly doubt.

Borderlands focuses on loot, using a ton of weapons, crude humor, and a solid campaign that you can play co-op with friends. Marathon, meanwhile, is a sci-fi PvP extraction game where loot is also present, though it will lean more on its live service elements per Bungie’s stream, which mentions “seasonal story updates.”

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Will Marathon have as big of an impact as Destiny 2? We can’t say for sure. Released in 2017, Destiny 2 is one of the most successful live-service looter shooters released, as it’s even alive and kicking now.

For those concerned about Marathon being a Destiny reskin, don’t worry. It’s clearly a different beast, which should be the case, given this is the studio’s first original game since 2017.

Will it be more successful than Borderlands 4? Now, that’s a bigger question to ponder since that franchise has an established fanbase eager to get their hands on the latest franchise entry. With how epic a failure Concord was for Sony, all eyes will be on Marathon, whether it can bring the Bungie magic to players, or if this will be another live-service bomb by Sony.

Marathon will be released on September 23 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and players on non-PlayStaton platforms will be glad to know they won’t need to create a PlayStation account to play it.