It seems Marathon will not be launching as a free-to-play experience. According to GameSpot, the latest Bungie extraction shooter is set to be a premium experience, with fans expecting to pay "full price" for it.
Marathon had a massive event where Bungie revealed a first look at gameplay. Amid the excitement of announcements of a Closed Alpha coming and the fact that the game will be released later this year (the same day as Borderlands 4), the developers decided not to drop a price tag or whether the game would come with one to begin with.
Will Marathon Be Free-To-Play?
As mentioned, GameSpot had a hands-on with the title. In it, it's explained that Marathon is intended to be a premium experience. Thus, it won't be free-to-play.
The actual price for the game was not revealed. Naturally, many predicted that "full price" implies Marathon will be a $70 experience. That said, Bungie came out and confirmed via social media that the game will not be "full priced" but still come with a price tag.
Other PvP or PvE-focused games that have been released at a cost have found success, even though logic suggests that maximizing success opportunities requires a free-to-play model. Helldivers 2 is perhaps the perfect example with a $40 entry point and free battle passes.
Having said that, the recent failure of Concord still looms large above Marathon. Granted, a Bungie joint like this will likely not fail on such a scale, but launching with a price tag in the current gaming ecosystem where you can boot up the likes of Marvel Rivals, Fortnite, or Valorant without putting cash upfront is a tough ask for many players nowadays.
In any case, we'll have news of an official Marathon price tag this summer. The game will be released on September 23 for PC, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5. Bungie has already confirmed you won't need to have a PSN account to play the game on other platforms besides PS5.