I dropped into Night Marsh at 2 a.m., headset humming and my squad already whispering. A flare popped, shadows swallowed a corridor, and I realized the map was asking more of us than our trigger fingers. You can feel a week’s worth of destiny tipping on a single decision.
I’ve been tracking Bungie’s Marathon rollout and you should read this as a quick field report from someone who’s spent hours in the dark corners of its maps. You’ll get facts, what matters for your time, and a clear signal about why June 2–9 feels like now or never.
Your friends list shows empty lobbies — the free week drops June 2–9
Bungie and Sony are opening Marathon to everyone on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S for an Open Play Week that runs June 2 through June 9. The idea is simple: give every new player an even footing by wiping inventories before the session begins, so your first matches won’t be a stompfest of gear mismatches.
You can play the full Season Two launch during that window. If you decide to buy the game afterward, your progress carries forward—but you’ll be starting from the same cleared slate everyone else got during the free week.
Is Marathon free to play this week?
Yes. From June 2–9 Marathon is open to all on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The trial is functionally free-to-play for that week; it’s a full run at Season Two’s launch content after the inventory wipe.
The map feels darker than any night raid I’ve run — Nightfall is the centerpiece of Season Two
Season Two, titled Nightfall, brings Night Marsh, a nighttime take on the Dire Marsh you already know. Expect flashlights, new scopes, and signal flares to be part of every tense hallway encounter.
This update also adds the Cradle system to tinker with your sandbox build, and two fresh weapons—the KKV-9SD submachine gun and the D54 Battle Pistol—so loadouts will shift fast as players chase what works in low light.
What is new in Season 2 of Marathon?
Nightfall’s headline is Night Marsh and a heavier emphasis on dealing with dark spaces. The new Sentinel Runner Shell class changes team dynamics with a defensive toolkit: an automated laser platform that destroys incoming grenades and missiles and buffs nearby weapon handling; a proximity Snare Mine that scatters immobilizing submunitions; and a short-range Prey Tracker radar to spot moving targets. Those additions reshape how you approach chokepoints and flanking maneuvers.
If you want the short version: Nightfall makes darkness an active enemy and hands teams the tools to contest it.
Your Destiny 2 feed probably looks different — this free week is a high-stakes gamble
Bungie is running this as a player-acquisition push while Destiny 2 prepares its final live-service update on June 9. That calendar conflict raises the stakes: if Marathon doesn’t convert a meaningful slice of the casual crowd into regular players during the free week, momentum will stall fast.
I’ve seen studios pour clever ideas into a game and still watch numbers fade when the audience never grows. This week is Bungie’s attempt to flip that script.
Will progress carry over after the free week?
Yes—progress you make during Open Play Week carries over if you buy Marathon afterward. The initial wipe is only to equalize starting inventories at the start of the free period; it’s not a barrier to taking your earned ranks, cosmetics, or unlocks forward if you purchase the game.
I’ll be watching how the player counts move on Steam charts, the Discords light up, and whether streamers on Twitch can hold attention beyond a single weekend. Marathon’s fate will be decided in plain view of metrics and mood, and you get to choose whether you’ll be part of that turning point — will you log in and tip the scale?