Marathon Season 2 To Start With Free Week and Plenty of New Content

Following recent updates centered around the Marathon co-op gameplay and new player experience, with new features coming to PvE and PvP, Bungie has just announced season two of its latest extraction shooter, kicking off on June 2 at the same time as an open play week. Between June 2 and June 9, Marathon will be free—although console players will need their respective platform subscription services needed for online multiplayer access. Along with a bunch of new content coming in season two, Bungie has promised a handful of gameplay and quality-of-life improvements that should make the game more approachable and accessible. The update will add a new privacy mode that hides on-screen usernames and adds a matchmaking timer offset; introduce CPU performance improvements and frame generation, with further optimization coming in the future; increase Vault space to allow holding up to 512 grid spaces; allow batch selection of items in the Vault; speed up weapon upgrades with a new weapon filter that allows players to only show compatible upgrades by clicking an empty weapon slot; and add a new cursor speed setting on both console and PC.

In terms of content, Marathon Season 2 will add a new zone, the Dire Marsh, where “the Anomaly blocks your path, long sight lines are obscured in the dark, and you’ll want to be careful where you shine your flashlight—you never know what’s lurking in the shadows.” Additionally, there will be a new Runner shell for players to enjoy. Sentinel, as it’s called, is a new shell with a focus on support and area defense, with an automated laser as a primary ability in addition to a proximity-triggered snare mine, and prey tracker, a short-range motion tracking system that highlights moving enemies around players on a radar system. With the season two update, there will be a wipe, which means “all the assets in your Vault and personalized Armory access will be wiped, and your shells will be reset to factory standards,” in an effort to put everyone back at the same level. Non-seasonal progression, cosmetics, and achievements will be retained, however. There are also a two new weapons coming to Marathon in Season 2—the KKV-9SD compact SMG, with a fire rate of 1200 rounds per minute, and the D54 Battle Pistol, built for quick handling and close-quarters encounters—and there are new chip and mod rarities that seek to encourage build diversity and experimentation. The Cradle is a new seasonal progression system that will allow players to upgrade various aspects of their Runner shells throughout the season, improving traits like dexterity, strength, endurance, and more. Season two will also see the return of Duos queues for Perimeter, Dire Marsh, Night Marsh, and Outpost. The Marathon Season 2 trailer follows.