Bungie is gearing up to unveil more of its eagerly anticipated PvP extraction shooter, Marathon, through a thrilling gameplay livestream scheduled for this Saturday, April 12 (or Sunday, April 13, depending on your global location). The excitement kicked off last week when the Destiny developer teased fans with a cryptic tweet featuring a peculiar 15-second video, sparking an immediate and widespread sleuthing effort as part of an "extensive alternative reality game."

Astute players quickly deciphered that the ASCII art in the video contained "a snippet of footage from the initial trailer," and upon closer inspection, they "noticed it's the runner sprinting down a hall from the trailer." Another intriguing message emerged: "WHEN WILL HE RETURN ERROR ERROR ERROR HAS OCCURRED THE ENEMY RETURNED SYSTEM WARNING: PROTOCOL BREACH EVACUATE THE BASE IMMEDIATELY ALL UNITS REPORT TO STATION INITIATE EMERGENCY PROTOCOL 7 DATA LOSS IMMINENT GOOD LUCK, COMMANDER."

Bungie praised the global community's collaborative efforts, stating, "Thousands of community members across the world worked together to unlock the gameplay reveal date for Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter Marathon." The livestream is set for 10 am PDT (San Francisco) / 1 pm EDT (New York) / 6 pm BST (London) / 7 pm CEST (Berlin/Paris) / 9 pm GST (Dubai) or on Sunday, April 13 at 2 am JST (Tokyo) / 3 am AEST (Sydney) / 5 pm NZST (Auckland).

Marathon was revealed in May 2023 as a reboot of the classic Bungie franchise, bringing back themes of "mysteries, eeriness, and psychological creepiness." Set on the enigmatic planet of Tau Ceti IV, players will take on the roles of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries engineered to endure the planet’s harsh conditions. As they explore the remnants of a lost colony, players will hunt for valuable loot, including new weapons and gear.

Since the initial reveal, updates have been sparse. A development update video in October shed light on Marathon's mechanics, but the studio emphasized the game's early stage of development. Meanwhile, Sony's strategic shift away from live-service games, following the abrupt cancellation of Concord, has seen the company focus on launching just six of the 12 planned live service games by March 2026. This shift also led to the cancellation of The Last of Us multiplayer game.

Bungie itself has faced its share of challenges, including laying off 220 staff—17% of its workforce—in July 2024, less than a year after 100 other layoffs at Bungie. Adding to the turmoil, former Marathon director Chris Barrett was allegedly fired after an internal misconduct investigation, and Barrett subsequently sued Sony Interactive Entertainment and Bungie for more than $200 million.

To catch the Marathon reveal live, tune into the official Marathon Twitch channel on April 12.