Bungie have announced that the Marathon update originally slated to arrive on September 22nd will not be doing so. Instead, it’ll rock up in December as part of a major update dubbed Symbiosis, which’ll introduce a new permanent PvE mode. Bungie are pegging it as “the first major step in Marathon’s next chapter” and have decided to ditch their established seasonal cadence for additions as part of this raft of changed plans.
“The content originally planned for September will now arrive as part of our Symbiosis update on December 8th,” the studio wrote in a blog post announcing the delay. “Alongside the new Runner shell, permanent PvE experience, and refreshed Perimeter zone, the update will also include a social space/firing range, an experimental TDM mode, and improvements to new player onboarding.
“Before then, we’ll release a smaller, focused update on October 6 that resets progression and the in-game economy, refreshes rewards, and improves the live game, while giving the team the time needed to deliver the larger experiences planned for December and March.”
With that comes a shift to spending longer prepping for those big updates over being bound to the studio’s established seasonal update schedule. “Instead of tying major updates to fixed seasonal deadlines, we’re giving the team more flexibility to build, test, and improve features before they are released,” Bungie explained. “Since launch, you’ve told us Marathon needs more depth, more variety, stronger progression, and better reasons to keep playing over the long term. We agree. Addressing that feedback requires us to change both what we’re building and how we deliver it.”
So, the plan for the coming months is a small update in October which’ll reset everyone’s progression and Marathon’s economy, setting things up for that Symbiosis update to arrive on December 8th. Based on the promo image for it, the latter’s PvE mode looks like it might revolve around some Helldivers 2-esque space bug stomping. Bungie insist it’s “only the beginning” of their plans to keep Marathon humming.
Here’s hoping the can, given it’s the only runner they’ve got left in the race after Destiny 2 dropped out back in June, and one plenty of folks are cheering on.