Marathon Goes Free-To-Play For Just One Week During Season 2

Marathon will offer an Open Play Week from June 2 to June 9 to let players access the full game. The game will be playable on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S during the week. Progress made during Open Play Week will carry over into Season 2. Players can invite friends to play together since everyone starts on a clean slate. Online multiplayer access still requires the usual paid subscription on consoles, while PC multiplayer remains free. A prior beta existed before launch but included a reduced version, limited maps and runner shells, and wiped progress at launch. The new trial aims to attract new players as concurrent numbers have declined during Season 1.

""Season 2 begins on June 2 and kicks off with an Open Play* Week from June 2 to June 9," Bungie wrote in a new blog post. "During the Open Play Week, the full game will be available to play on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, and any progress you make will carry over into Season 2. This will be a great time to invite your friends to crew up as everyone will be starting out on a clean slate.""

"While Bungie is stopping just short of calling this "Open Play Week" free, that's essentially what it is. All players need is their console's paid subscription service to access the online multiplayer, unless they're on PC where that stuff has always been free."

"Marathon did have a free beta back before it launched, but that only included a reduced version of the game. It didn't allow players to access all of the maps and runner shells, and progress was wiped out at launch. This new trial period will hopefully give prospective players a better sense of what to expect from Marathon and potentially hook them with that initial sense of progression and the dopamine from their first loot exfil."

"And...well, Marathon could really use an influx of fresh meat. Steam chart watchers have been quick to note throughout season 1 that the concurrent player numbers have continually declined. They now hover at around 10,000 instead of the initial 80,000 peak. It's the end of the season, so that's not shocking. But other reporting suggests the game is struggling overall to meet expectations at the moment, especially as Bungie prepares to sunset its main breadwinner, Destiny 2."

Read at Kotaku