Marathon Server Slam: What to Expect and How to Prepare
The marathon server slam opens this weekend as an open playtest for Bungie's extraction FPS, and the studio is asking players to help stress its systems. The marathon server slam runs from February 26 at 10: 00 a. m. PT/1: 00 p. m. ET through March 2 at 10: 00 a. m. PT/1: 00 p. m. ET, and the team has offered guidance and rewards to participants ahead of the March 5 launch.
Marathon Server Slam schedule
The Server Slam begins on February 26 at 10: 00 a. m. PT and ends on March 2 at 10: 00 a. m. PT; the start and end-times are the same both days, which correspond to 1: 00 p. m. ET for the kickoff and close. This open preview weekend is a chance to play before the formal launch of Marathon on Thursday, March 5 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Where to play and tech goals
Players will be able to join the Server Slam on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S with cross-play and cross-save enabled. Bungie frames the event as a technical stress test: the team is "turning everything on worldwide, inviting as many of you in as we can, and then watching the systems closely" while players log in, crew up, infil, exfil, log out and repeat. The weekend is meant to help the studio spin up its global infrastructure at scale for the first time and to collect data when systems fail so the launch on March 5 will be improved.
What the preview includes
The Server Slam is a slice of Marathon and a preview weekend, not the full game. You will be able to feel how Marathon actually plays, but not all maps and content will be present. Expect the experience to feel a little different from a standard launch weekend while the team stands by throughout to address issues, monitor performance and make adjustments. When something breaks, the studio has said, "that is data we can use to make our launch on March 5 all the better. "
Maps, setting and progression
Marathon takes place on Tau Ceti IV, a derelict space colony where Runners and hostile UESC security forces roam. The year is 2893, 99 years after the events of the original Marathon game and hundreds of years since the establishment of the now-dead colony. Maps in the Server Slam are built from futuristic research facilities and lush forests, and the planet surface is only the beginning; players will work their way toward the Cryo Archive, the first floor of the UESC Marathon orbiting above. The Server Slam will not include all maps and content coming to the main game, though a large chunk will be available for the weekend.
Rewards, caches and exclusives
Everyone who completes the introductory mission during the weekend will unlock a unique Beta. exe emblem and a Complex Study player background, cosmetics exclusive to Server Slam participants. Time spent during the Slam will also bank loot rewards for launch based on progress: complete your first mission to unlock the Standard Arrival Cache; reach Runner Level 10 to unlock the Enhanced Arrival Cache (Green); reach Runner Level 30 to unlock the Deluxe Arrival Cache (Blue). Cosmetic and loot rewards will be delivered once Marathon launches on March 5, and the rollout may take some time; if players log in at launch and do not see rewards, they are advised to hold tight.
Launch content and Season 1
At launch the game will include additional content beyond the Server Slam: two more maps are slated—Outpost and Cryo Archive—with Cryo Archive launching during Season 1. The sixth Runner Shell, Thief, will be available at launch but not during the Server Slam. When Marathon launches and Season 1 kicks off, players can expect additional zones, factions, contracts, gear, progression depth, Ranked mode and some secrets that players will have to discover themselves. Ranked mode is scheduled to arrive in Season 1.
Tips, community viewing and final notes
Marathon game director Joe Ziegler has shared 11 tips for beginners ahead of the Server Slam; those tips were edited for clarity by Game Informer and were spotted by Forbes. The studio also noted that throughout the Server Slam weekend viewers can tune in to anyone streaming Marathon on Twitch to snag a set of cosmetic rewards for launch, with full claiming details available on the game's support pages. The build is offered as a free playtest on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 with crossplay and cross-save to help players arrive on launch day looking and feeling ready for the dangers of Tau Ceti.
"I'm sure we'll all learn plenty more as we head to the Tau Ceti planet that Marathon's maps are set on, but for now, Ziegler's tips seem like a great foundation of tricks to build on, " the preview summary notes. Are you hopping into the Marathon Server Slam today or this weekend? Let the community know in the comments where you play and what you find.
