Want Early Access to Marathon? Bungie Is Accepting Limited Sign‑Ups for an Oct. 22 Closed Technical Test

Bungie is opening sign-ups for a closed technical test of Marathon that runs from Oct. 22 at 10 a.m. PDT to Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. PDT. Applications are live now, and the studio will select players in Europe and North America to take part.

1. What’s happening
2. How to apply
3. Eligibility & requirements
4. Dates and deadlines
5. What’s in the technical test
6. After the test

What’s happening

Bungie has announced a closed technical test for Marathon, its sci-fi extraction shooter. The test is meant to evaluate improvements made since the game’s Alpha and will be limited in scope. Bungie says it has already run several closed playtests since June and will now open applications to more players.

How to apply

To apply, players must submit an application on Bungie.net. In addition, players must join the official Marathon Discord server and sign an NDA there.

Eligibility & requirements

Platforms

The test is open to players on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC.

Minimum PC specs

Minimum PC requirements listed for the test are an Intel Core i5-6600 processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GPU, and 8GB RAM.

Regions

Only players in Europe and North America are eligible to apply.

Dates and deadlines

The test itself runs from Oct. 22 at 10 a.m. PDT to Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. PDT. To be considered, applications via Bungie.net must be submitted by Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. PDT.

For Windows PC players using Steam, applications open on Steam starting Oct. 13 at 10 a.m. PDT, and Steam applications must be turned in by Oct. 26 at 4 p.m. PDT. You can submit your Steam application on Marathon’s Steam page.

What’s in the technical test

Bungie says the build will include a portion of what’s planned for the full release and will focus on the early player experience. Specifically, the studio listed the following items as part of the test:

• Three maps
• Five runner shells
• Prox chat
• Re-tuned combat pacing
• Solo queue
• Deeper environmental storytelling

In Bungie’s words: “This is an important checkpoint for us as we test our improvements since [Marathon’s] Alpha, including three maps, five runner shells, prox chat, re-tuned combat pacing, solo queue, deeper environmental storytelling, and more,” Bungie said in a blog post. “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.”

After the test

Bungie will contact players who qualify and provide next steps. Players who don’t get in or who miss the window can still expect further updates: “We’ll be sharing a public update on Marathon’s development in the coming months after the Closed Technical Test!” Bungie shared.

For more information, players can check Marathon’s help page.