If the reveal of Bungie’s first-person team-based extraction shooter Marathon has left you a bit perplexed about its setting, the cinematic released today may help explain it in simpler terms.
The video is actually the intro cinematic of the upcoming closed alpha, and it explains that Runners (mercenaries played by the players) had their consciousness ejected from their bodies at the moment of death and then implanted in a new shell to return to fight.
Once a runner is killed, their consciousness is preserved until a new shell is created. When that happens, they can return to the battlefield on Tau Ceti IV, where they are tasked with salvaging the remains of a long-lost human colony.
The Runners are also hunted by the Unified Earth Space Council, so they need to take care of that threat as well as other Runners.
You can hear it all in the video below. It’s worth mentioning that Bungie warns that the cinematic is also in alpha state and isn’t final, so it may be different when we get our hands on the final game.
Marathon will release on September 23, 2025, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
Speaking of the closed alpha test, that’s starting very soon on April 23, 2025. Signups are available on the game’s official Discord.
If you’re unfamiliar with Bungie, it’s a beloved first-person shooter developer that rose to fame with the creation of the Halo series. After that, it has moved on to the Destiny series, with Destiny 2 being its latest hit before Marathon.
It has since been acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment, becoming part of PlayStation Studios and spearheading its live service games initiative, which so far has been very hit and miss, with the only successful game being Helldivers 2, as opposed to several cancellations, including Concord and a Last of Us multiplayer title.
It remains to be seen whether Marathon will manage to balance the scales more toward the success side.