What time does Marathon Season 2 start in your time zone?
Bungie’s extraction shooter Marathon is entering Season 2 alongside a week-long free-to-play event designed to boost its struggling player base. The sci-fi shooter has faced significant retention challenges during its first three months of operation, with players citing difficulty in onboarding, punishing gameplay mechanics, and community friction between Marathon and Destiny 2 players as contributing factors.
To address these issues, Bungie is implementing an “open play” week that will allow new players to access the game at no cost during the Season 2 launch period. This promotional initiative represents an attempt to reverse the declining player numbers and introduce fresh audiences to the game’s core extraction shooter mechanics.
While the game itself has been praised for its design quality, the broader challenge of player retention has been a focus for developers and the community alike. The confluence of aggressive gameplay, steep learning curves, and competition from established franchises has created headwinds for Marathon’s growth. Season 2 marks a potential turning point, with the free-to-play window offering an opportunity to demonstrate improvements and attract players who may have been deterred by initial friction points.