Today, Bungie launched Marathon's 1.1.5 update, featuring its awaited Vault Breaker experimental PvE mode which offers a two-week window for players to contend with the typically-endgame Cryo Archive map and its many hazards and puzzles without any twitchy, murderous squads of competing players hanging around.
Shortly after the Vault Breaker update went live, SteamDB charts showed that Marathon's concurrent player count had jumped to over 14,800 players. That's not a massive number compared to its peers on Steam's Most Played ranking, but it's roughly triple the activity that Marathon pulled at similar times of day throughout the last week—and the most concurrent player activity since player numbers started bleeding after the June free weekend.
Vault Breaker trades Marathon's typical extraction loop for an alternative progression scheme. Unlike in normal excursions, runners in Vault Breaker won't keep any gear they pick up and extract with during a run. Instead, the goal is to loot Vault Data that can be used for persistent upgrades to your initial Vault Breaker kit or spent on gear that can be carried into standard runs, offering a more roguelite framework for Bungie's gunplay.
The 1.1.5 update also brings some changes for the Cradle upgrade system, like an option to "evolve" (read: prestige) a fully-levelled Cradle to reset its progress in exchange for a higher energy limit, allowing careerist runners to equip more Cradle upgrades. Bungie has also implemented new voice moderation and reporting systems in an effort to crack down on in-game chat toxicity.
Vault Breaker is a welcome offering for players who've been eager for a chance to savor Marathon's setting, aesthetic, and shooter sandbox without extraction-induced anxiety—particularly in the wake of Destiny 2's abrupt entry into un-live service purgatory. Bungie's clearly willing to tinker with the Marathon formula; whether a long-term audience will materialize for that post-launch experimentation—and how much patience Sony's vague live service strategy is willing to extend—remains to be seen.
