Bungie has announced the next playtest dates for Marathon, the extraction shooter reboot of its pre-Halo scifi series. But while we might've expected an open beta after April's closed (but shareable) alpha test, Marathon's next technical test is once again running behind closed doors, and you'll need to apply for a slot.
The closed playtest will run from Tuesday, October 22 to Wednesday, October 28, and you can submit your application for a playtest invite on Bungie.net now. Bungie will also enable playtest access requests through Steam on Monday, October 13 at 10 am Pacific. As a closed playtest, it'll require a nondisclosure agreement to participate.
"This is an important checkpoint for us as we test our improvements since alpha, including three maps, five runner shells, prox chat, re-tuned combat pacing, solo queue, deeper environmental storytelling, and more," Bungie said. "That said, the Technical Test build is a work in progress and will only include a portion of what’s planned for Marathon’s full release, focused on the early player experience."
While our long-suffering Bungie shooter aficionado Tim Clark said his hands-on time with Marathon left him "confident enough to say it's going to be a good game," the months since its April playtest have only risen the stakes for what was already going to be a make-or-break release for the beleaguered studio.
Bungie morale was sent into "free fall" in May after it was forced to apologize for stealing art from an independent designer—something the studio has had to do at least three other times. In June, PlayStation Studios acknowledged the mixed reaction to the April playtest, calling player responses "varied." Bungie announced Marathon's launch delay just days later, saying "we need more time to craft Marathon into the game that truly reflects your passion."
Meanwhile, Destiny 2 endured a widely panned expansion launch, prompting an August earnings call statement from Sony CFO Lin Tao, who said that after years of studio turmoil, Bungie's independence would be "getting lighter" in an ongoing process "to become part of PlayStation Studios." Bungie CEO Pete Parsons announced his resignation before the month was up.
It's unclear what the future looks like for Bungie, but that picture certainly looks more positive if Marathon pulls out a win. October playtest participants will have a better idea how likely that is—but while the NDA stands, the rest of us can only guess.
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