Marathon Closed Technical Test Set for October 22–28

Since Marathon’s full reveal in April, and the backlash that followed, which eventually led Bungie to delay the game indefinitely, the Destiny 2 developer is ready to show more of its upcoming extraction shooter. A closed technical test will run from October 22 to October 28, giving select players a hands-on look at the current state of the game.

This test won’t be open to the public. Those invited will be under a strict NDA, and participation will be limited to players in North America and Europe.

Here’s the full FAQ provided by Bungie in their announcement of the technical test.

How long will the Closed Technical Test run?

• The Closed Technical Test will run from October 22 at 10AM PT, to October 28 at 10AM PT.

• Participation in previous tests doesn’t guarantee participation in this or future tests.

• How do I know if I’ve been invited?

  • You will receive an official email from Bungie.

  • Closed Technical Test invites will be sent in waves throughout the test.

• If I’ve played in the Alpha or other NDA’d playtest, am I automatically invited to the Closed Technical Test?

  • No, you’ll need to apply and be invited to the Closed Technical Test to participate.

• Am I allowed to stream, record, or share my playtest experience?

  • This test is strictly under an NDA, and as such you will not be able to stream or share your playtest experience publicly.

  • Any feedback or recordings will need to be shared only in the NDA’d section of the Marathon Official Discord.

• Can I share my invite with someone else (friends/family)?

  • Your invite is specific to you, the Bungie.net account you signed up with, and the Discord account you provided during the sign-up process. You will not be able to share it.

• How do I get access to the NDA Discord?

  • Join the official Discord at discord.gg/marathonthegame. We will add the Discord account name you provided during sign-up to our NDA’d section. Access for the NDA’d Discord channels can take up to 24 hours to update.

  • For those joining after the test has begun, we’ll be conducting role grants daily in the evening for the duration of the test.

  • For Steam users, you’ll need to take the survey you receive in-game to provide your Discord and Bungie.net account names.

• How do I report bugs or provide feedback?

  • For bug reporting, you will need a Bungie.net account to access the Marathon Help Center Forums.

  • For feedback, we will be sending out surveys to your email. Additionally, you can provide feedback in our NDA section in Discord.

  • Access for both the forums and Discord can take up to 24 hours to update.

• What regions are allowed in?

  • North America

  • Europe

• What are the minimum system requirements?

  • Console:

    • PlayStation 5

    • Xbox Series S

  • PC:

    • Processor: Intel Core i5-6600

    • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

    • RAM: 8GB RAM

When Marathon was revealed, Bungie didn’t get the reaction it hoped for. Early impressions were optimistic, but sentiment shifted as players began to feel that something was missing from the gameplay loop.

Criticism also mounted over the lack of core extraction shooter features, such as proximity voice chat and secure boxes to mitigate losing all your loot on death. On top of that, many players weren’t impressed by the game’s visual presentation, particularly the environments, which some described as unfinished.

The breaking point came when an artist publicly accused Bungie of using their work without permission. A controversy that likely contributed to the studio pulling the plug on Marathon’s planned September release.

While this technical test might not be enough to change public opinion outright, it could give participants a better sense of the progress Bungie has made since the game went quiet. Whether that’s enough to restore faith remains to be seen.

Marathon is now expected to launch in early 2026 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

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