On March 5, 2026, Marathon, the latest game from Bungie, will be released. A few days before the release, you can take a final, free look at the extraction shooter during a server slam. We will show you what you need to know.
What is the Marathon server slam? The server slam is a mix of a preview weekend for players and a final test for the servers. You can play for free for about 5 days, even if you haven’t pre-ordered the game. You are meant to put the servers of Marathon to the test so that everything runs as smoothly as possible upon the official release.
Start & Preload for the Marathon server slam
When is the Marathon server slam? The Marathon server slam starts on Thursday, February 26, 2026, at 7:00 PM German time and ends the following Monday, March 2, 2026, at 7:00 PM.
When does the preload for the Marathon server slam start? It is currently unknown if and when there will be a preload for the Marathon server slam. As soon as we know more, we will update the information here in the article.
Until the preload for the Marathon server slam is available, it remains a mystery how large the download will be. Since a substantial part of the final game will be available during the server slam, you should expect at least 40 GB (this is just an estimate of the minimum size and can vary greatly).
Bungie invites you to the Marathon server slam on PS5, Xbox, and Steam
On which platforms can you participate in the server slam? You can play Marathon during the server slam on PlayStation, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam.
These rewards you get for playing the server slam: If you participate in the Marathon server slam, you can score a few rewards for the full game. These rewards await you:
- Everyone who completes the introduction mission receives a unique badge and a unique player background.
- By playing, you earn rewards that depend on your progress:
- Complete your first mission: Unlock the standard arrival cache
- Standard implants (6x)
- Standard runner shell cores (4x)
- Standard weapon chip mods (6x)
- Weapons: Overrun SG and Hardline PG
- Reach runner level 10: Unlock the optimized arrival cache (green)
- Optimized implants (6x)
- Optimized runner shell cores (2x per shell, 12x total)
- Optimized weapon chip mods (4x)
- Weapons: Optimized Magnum pistol and optimized Hardline PG
- Reach runner level 30: Unlock the luxury arrival cache (blue)
- Luxury and optimized implants (3x each, 6x total)
- Luxury and optimized runner shell cores (1x per shell, 12x total)
- Luxury and optimized weapon chip mods (2x each, 4x total)
- Weapons: Luxury Magnum pistol and optimized volley rifle
- Backpack: Optimized basic backpack
- Complete your first mission: Unlock the standard arrival cache
The rewards you earn during the server slam can be collected upon the release of the full game.
Is there crossplay? Yes, both during the server slam and at the full release, there will be crossplay in Marathon.
This is known about cross save: Marathon will have cross-save during the server slam. This means you can utilize and continue your progress made on PS5 on Steam on PC, for example.
Contents offered by the Marathon server slam
What is playable during the server slam? Marathon offers you a selected part of the full game during the server slam. You can accept and complete the first faction quests and thereby rise in the faction levels as well as begin the progress trees of each faction.
Additionally, during the server slam, two out of four maps and five out of six runner shells (the playable classes) will be offered. As an alternative to the standard classes, you can choose the Rook. This is practically a seventh class that allows you to play with a free loadout instead of your own gear.
The additional maps, the sixth runner shell, and more are expected to be included in Marathon at the proper release on March 5, 2026. In Season 1, a ranked mode will then follow.
The six runner shells available to you at release have already been introduced by Bungie together with the Rook. MyMMO editor Dariusz was particularly struck by the ‘Thief’. However, that is precisely the class that will not be playable during the server slam. For more about the classes and Dariusz’s impressions of them, read here: The 7 classes of Marathon look exciting for loot goblins like me, but I know I’ll hate my opponents
