Bungie announced that Marathon Season 2, titled Nightfall, will start on June 2, 2026, with a major progress wipe resetting runner level, rank, vault, inventory, credits, schemas, faction level, upgrades, and some contracts for all players [1, 2, 3]. After the reset, players will retain unlocked factions, earned and purchased cosmetics, codex entries, and special currencies LUX and Silk [1, 2, 3].
In preparation for the season change, Season 1 will increase chaos starting May 19. Guaranteed map events will occur every run; locked room keys will drop from Warden enemies; the UESC enemy presence will grow; and new Warden encounters will appear. The Cryo Archive map will open daily from May 21 until the season end to help players complete vault access and codex entries [1, 2, 3].
Season 2 adds a new Runner Shell named Sentinel and introduces a nighttime variant of the Dire Marsh map, providing fresh environments to explore [4, 5, 6]. Bungie will also launch two experimental game modes: a PvE-lite mode with light PvP elements and a PvE-only mode focused on cooperative objectives against AI threats, expanding the gameplay variety [4, 5, 6, 7]. Duo queue, previously experimental, will become a rotating game mode allowing two-player teams to compete [4, 7].
Marathon's initial reception has mixed challenges. Game Director Joe Ziegler acknowledged the game's complexity, saying "Marathon is overwhelming to learn. After a short tutorial, you're often thrown into the fire to learn a lot of concepts..." [7]. He added that Bungie wants to "continue to evolve the challenging and tense experience that our players have come to love while leaning further into the wild world we've created" and to make Marathon "an experience where you can find more novel ways to play when you're stressed out and just need to cool off or have fun without the stress" [4, 6].
Sony reported a $765 million impairment loss linked to Bungie's underperformance post-acquisition, citing Marathon's reception as a factor [1, 2].
Bungie's future roadmap plans Season 3 to heavily revise early player onboarding to reduce complexity. Season 4 aims to deepen extraction gameplay, while Season 5 will evolve the ecosystem of PvP, PvE, and mixed modes [4, 5, 6].
