How Is The ‘Marathon’ Season 2 Launch And Free Week Going?

InnovationGamingHow Is The ‘Marathon’ Season 2 Launch And Free Week Going?ByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorJun 08, 2026, 09:59am EDTMarathonBungieMarathon is both Bungie’s main game and Sony’s biggest live service project for the foreseeable future, now that Destiny 2 is about to end with tomorrow’s final update on June 9. Last Tuesday, Bungie launched Marathon season 2 and, at the same time, made the game free for a week to all players looking to try it out. The goal was for them to purchase the game if they were impressed.The weekend is now over, and while there are a few days left in this test, given the extension of the free week to 10 days, we’re obviously going to be past the peaks, and a lot has happened. And not just in terms of player count watching (though that paints a picture as well). A few things have gone down that have made Marathon season 2’s release a bit… rough, to say the least.Marathon season 2 launched with about 10 hours of server problems, first disconnecting games, eventually servers being taken offline until 11 PM on release day, which, even for Bungie and a few of its botched Destiny releases, was significant and extra poorly timed.The arrival of the nighttime version of Dire Marsh was received well, a spookier version of the map that was truly dark, dark, and certainly changed gameplay without the need for a brand new map.The addition of the new stat point Cradle system allowed newer, more casual players to start sinking points into meaningful upgrades immediately, including key things like heat reduction. There were also significant, positive changes to the UI from season 1.MarathonBungieNew runner, Sentinel, launched with little fanfare, but the class seems more well-suited for the not-yet-live Cryo map, so full analysis on his addition isn’t complete.However, a few things made the sea...