I watched a runner vault a crate, grin, and then lose it all when the seasonal timer flipped—his face went cold in one heartbeat. You feel that same pit when you think about hours of progress evaporating overnight. I’m going to cut straight to what Bungie told us, what actually resets, and how you should plan your runs.
I follow Bungie closely and I play extraction shooters enough to know where the pain points are. Read this like a field report: clear, practical, and blunt where it matters.
I listened to Joe Ziegler speak and the word “season” kept repeating — Are There Wipes in Marathon?
Yes. Bungie’s game director Joe Ziegler confirmed Marathon will run seasonal wipes: four seasons a year, each roughly three months long. In an interview in China he described each season as “a months-long ‘roguelike adventure’,” and explained that periodic resets are part of that design—every season offers a fresh start for all Runners.
Will Marathon have wipes?
Short answer: Yes. Wipes are planned each time a new season begins. This applies to the full live release schedule; the current Server Slam tests are separate and do not reflect the seasonal wipe cycle.
I’ve watched a friend lose a full inventory during a midnight run — How Wipes Work in Marathon
Wipes in Marathon are quarterly and affect loot-based progression. When a season ends, the game resets items that shape competitive balance so everyone starts the next season on equal footing.
The quarterly wipe is like a tide sweeping the beach: everything picked up on the shore can be carried out to sea. Specifically, Bungie says the following categories will reset at season boundaries:
- Inventory and vault contents (weapons, resources, artifacts)
- Faction trust and rank
- Runner upgrade trees and seasonal progression
- Seasonal leaderboards and achievements tied to that season
- In-game currency balances and seasonal power level
That reset applies to the six launch factions too: rank progress, reputation tracks, and the season-long perks they grant will all be cleared when the new season drops. Bungie frames early-season faction choices as meaningful because the order you invest time affects what you can carry into those first weeks.
How often will Marathon wipes occur?
Bungie plans four seasons per year, so expect wipes roughly every three months. Think quarterly resets, aligned with seasonal content drops designed to reshape gameplay and keep the meta moving.
I compared Marathon to Tarkov runs and noticed the wipe anxiety is familiar — Marathon Wipes: Resets vs. Carry Overs
Wipes are common in extraction shooters—Escape from Tarkov and Arc Raiders have similar mechanics—so this isn’t an experiment. Bungie decided to split what resets and what carries forward to soften the blow.
| Resets | Carry Overs |
|---|---|
| Inventory & vault (gear, resources, artifacts) | Cosmetics (unlocked or purchased) |
| Faction trust/rank | Profile/account base level |
| Upgrade trees & Runner progression | Codex/story unlocks |
| Seasonal leaderboards & achievements | Server Slam rewards (e.g., emblems, caches) |
| Currency balances | Reward Pass rewards |
This hybrid approach means your cosmetics, overall profile level, and story progress persist, while the items that shape match-to-match balance do not. Your cosmetic purchases on platforms like Steam, Xbox Store, or PlayStation Network should remain safe; if you plan to buy a battle pass, remember prices are often listed in USD (about $10 (€9) for some passes in similar games).
Your stash is not a permanent bank vault; think of it as a safety deposit box you return at season’s end. That design nudges players to keep playing each season rather than leaning on one dominant loadout forever.
What carries over after a Marathon wipe?
Items that matter for long-term identity and story stay with you: cosmetics, account-level progression, codex entries, and any non-seasonal reward-track content. Server Slam rewards from the test period are also preserved into live service. The rest — gear, faction ranks, currencies, and seasonal perks — reset.
If you want practical advice: prioritize cosmetics and story goals when you care about permanence, and treat high-value loot as transient currency for the current season. Watch Bungie’s dev updates and Joe Ziegler’s posts on Bungie.net or interviews for small rule tweaks between seasons. And if you play with buddies on Steam, Xbox Live, or PSN, plan runs so someone always holds team resources early in a new season.
Wipes hurt in the moment, but they’re designed to keep matches fair, fresh, and tense—do you think that trade-off makes Marathon more interesting or more frustrating?