After a mixed reception to Marathon’s first public playtest last year (not helped by the whiplash of Arc Raiders’ remarkably positive playtest), Bungie returned to the drawing board to overhaul some of the extraction shooter’s features. Now it’s back on the menu and almost time for round two, as a second public playtest will happen before the March 5 release date.
Bungie had already teased that we’d have one more test drive, and it just reiterated that promise, explaining, “We’ll have an open preview weekend before launch, and everyone will be able to try Marathon out”. No date has been revealed yet, however.
Yes. We’ll have an open preview weekend before launch, and everyone will be able to try Marathon out!January 19, 2026
The big public closed alpha last year ran for a very generous week and a half, from April 23 until May 4, and other closed tests later in the year lasted a similar length. This time around though, it seems we’ll only have the weekend—if I had to guess, it’s probably more like Friday to Monday, but still much more limited.
Additionally, Bungie is clear in noting that “everyone” will be able to try it out, suggesting that this upcoming test weekend will be completely open across all platforms, unlike the closed alpha and more recent playtests at the end of 2025 that required players sign up and be one of the lucky few to receive invites.
To give credit to the very early closed alpha playtest, there was already a fair amount of content to play around with, including multiple maps and Runners, quests, and factions. Almost all of these aspects have since been overhauled, along with the addition of brand-new features, so I’m hoping we’ll get to see how these changes have impacted the experience in the upcoming test weekend.
As much as it’s a test that will no doubt provide Bungie with invaluable last-minute data, it’s also Marathon’s second chance, and I don’t think it can afford to make even a mediocre impression again. Arc Raiders’ honeymoon phase may be over, but it’s still the game to beat.
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