An open beta for Marathon is coming in late February, according to an announcement at PlayStation’s most recent State of Play. Following another showcase trailer for the game, Bungie announced that the open beta, called a “server slam” will launch on PS, Xbox, and PC.
With the full launch of the game coming in early March, it was about time for Marathon to hold an open beta for players to test out the game and the game to test out how players will stress the servers, hence the cheeky nickname “server slam”.
Marathon’s Open Beta Release Date
The Marathon server slam will begin on Feb. 26 and run through March 2, just before the game’s full launch. An open beta for the upcoming survival extraction FPS was confirmed a while ago, and with the release date fast approaching (and the window for pre-orders closing), the time was ripe for an open beta announcement.
Marathon might face some competition for player’s attention during the open beta, as Resident Evil 9: Requiem launches on Feb. 27 (and also featured prominently in the February State of Play).
Marathon Platforms
The open beta will be available on all the same platforms the full game is, which includes PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC (via Steam). Cross-play and cross-save will be enabled, according to a blog post from Bungie.
How to play the Open Beta?
The Marathon server slam is free for everyone to try, which means players will just need to download the open beta on their preferred platform and jump right in. Since the open beta doesn’t open till closer to the end of Feb., there’s no link for a download yet.
Open Beta Rewards
Any player that participates in the server slam open beta will earn some special rewards before the game even launches. For finishing the introduction, every player will receive an emblem and background, but even more rewards are locked behind additional missions.
The rewards are as follows:
- Complete your first mission: Unlock the Standard Arrival Cache
- Standard implants (6x)
- Standard Runner shell cores (4x)
- Standard weapon chip mods (6x)
- Weapons: Overrun and Hardline
Reach Runner Level 10: Unlock the Enhanced Arrival Cache (Green)
- Enhanced implants (6x)
- Enhanced Runner shell cores (2x for each shell, 12x total)
- Enhanced weapon chip mods (4x)
- Weapons: Enhanced Magnum and Enhanced Hardline
Reach Runner Level 30: Unlock the Deluxe Arrival Cache (Blue)
- Deluxe and Enhanced implants (3x each, 6x total)
- Deluxe and Enhanced Runner shell cores (1x each for each shell, 12x total)
- Deluxe and Enhanced weapon chip mods (2x each, 4x total)
- Weapons: Deluxe Magnum and Enhanced Volley Rifle
- Backpack: Deluxe Base Backpack
What game modes are in the Marathon open beta?
Marathon’s server slam will have a small sampling of the full game. According to Bungie’s blog post, players will be able to:
- Infil into two zones:
- Perimeter, an edge-site expansion on the colony’s outskirts
- Dire Marsh, the colony’s agricultural research hub
- Take on the early contracts for five factions: CyberAcme, NuCaloric, Traxus, MIDA, and Arachne
- Progress though the early faction levels and progression trees for each faction
- Try out five of the six Runner shells that will be available at launch, plus our scavenger experience Rook
- Play as a crew, solo Runner, form uneasy alliances with proximity chat, and more
The full release of Marathon on March 5, 2026 will bring even more content, especially as the first season gets underway and a Ranked game mode is introduced. For now, players will have to make do with a small taste of Bungie’s latest creation.
