Bungie Drops a Free Week for Marathon Season 2 Just as Veteran Loot Gets Wiped
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Bungie is launching a free week for Marathon alongside Season 2 on June 2, taking advantage of a full player gear wipe to let newcomers jump into the extraction shooter on equal footing with veterans.
Bungie is lowering the barrier of entry for its sci-fi extraction shooter, offering a full week of free access starting June 2 to coincide with the launch of Season 2. For anyone who has been on the fence about jumping into Tau Ceti, this trial offers a level playing field. The timing is particularly clever because the new season comes with a complete account wipe, resetting veteran vaults, armories, and shells back to factory standards. Newcomers will not have to worry about running into fully kitted crews hoarding months of top-tier gear, meaning everyone starts the fresh season at the exact same baseline.
Season 2 also leans heavily into a darker, more tense atmosphere, shifting parts of the experience toward survival horror. The returning Dire Marsh map is getting a pitch-black night variant that forces players to rely on flashlights, flares, and vector bullets to navigate. While these light sources help you see the environment, they also make you an easy target for anyone watching from the shadows. Bungie is dialing up the environmental threats and increasing AI resistance, requiring players to hunt down decryption keys from UESC troops to unlock secured cargo lockers.
Beyond the atmospheric changes, the update introduces a brand new defensive character class called the Sentinel. Armed with a proximity snare mine, a prey tracker, and an ultimate ability that shoots down incoming explosives, the Sentinel is built to control space and protect squadmates from heavy enemy bombardments. Between the clean slate of the seasonal wipe, the atmospheric tension of the new night map, and a full week of open access, Bungie is giving both curious newcomers and lapsed players the ideal window to test the waters. You can read the original reporting over at Rock Paper Shotgun.
Tags: Marathon, Bungie, Extraction Shooter, PC Gaming, Console Gaming
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun