Is Marathon free-to-play?

Bungie is finally taking a crack at the extraction shooter genre with the revival of their original IP, Marathon. After finally unveiling the gameplay on their dedicated live stream, Bungie gave us a good look at Marathon, revealing some of its many systems and what players can expect at launch.

Considering how many modern multiplayer releases are free-to-play with battle passes and microtransactions, it’s fair to ask if Marathon follows a similar pricing model. Here is everything Bungie has revealed so far about the game’s pricing and availability.

Will Marathon be free-to-play? Everything you need to know

Bungie has confirmed that Marathon is not a free-to-play game but a paid premium title.

They clarified on X (formerly Twitter) that while the title is paid, it will not be full-priced, which currently means $70 or $80 if you’re playing on Nintendo.

If I had to guess, I would assume it will be priced somewhere in the $30 to $50 range. Both Helldivers 2 and Concord launched at $40 and saw varying levels of success. Helldivers 2 proves that as long as a game offers a unique hook and polish at launch, players are willing to pay the entry fee.

Marathon will feature three maps at launch, with a fourth map arriving shortly after. Bungie confirmed that more details about the pricing will be revealed this summer.

Will Marathon have a battle pass?

Yes, the developers have confirmed that Marathon will feature a battle pass at launch.

Essentially, the pricing model sounds quite similar to something like the Hunt: Showdown, which is another popular extraction shooter. It’s a paid title, though not full-priced, and features a paid battle pass on top of the entry price.

Impressions of Marathon have been largely mixed so far. Most players are impressed by the game’s excellent art direction, which truly stands out thanks to its great use of colors, lighting, and general character designs.

However, when it comes to what has been shown so far, it doesn’t seem Marathon is doing anything particularly different or special for someone to consider buying the title over their existing go-to extraction shooter.

Marathon release date

Marathon is releasing on PC via Steam, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 on Sept. 23, 2025.

Marathon is still six months away from release, and it’s prime time for Bungie to take feedback from players, whether it’s gameplay, the technical side, or even pricing. You can provide feedback yourself by taking part in its alpha test starting later this month.