Marathon’s closed alpha is arriving soon — here’s what you need to know.
Bungie has shared an article packed full of details about April and May's closed alpha for new extraction shooter Marathon, which is set to kick off later this week.
It's been stressed the game is far from complete, but developers hope those lucky enough to enter the alpha will share plenty of feedback about Marathon in its current state. Here's everything you need to know about the Marathon closed alpha.
When does the Marathon closed alpha start and end?
The Marathon alpha test begins April 23. Players who received codes will be able to download the alpha build of Marathon, with servers in North America up and running to play. Players from outside of NA will need to wait, unfortunately!
The play test will end May 4. However, despite Marathon's looming release date in September, more tests are planned to take place before launch. Bungie's April 18 blog post mentions "additional opportunities for you to play Marathon before release" for regions outside of NA.
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What will we see from the Marathon alpha?
From what we know, it's more about what we won't see in the Marathon test compared to the game's full release. Bungie has specified many of the game's technical components are far from complete, including but not limited to:
- Final visuals and graphics, including animations and lighting.
- Full and polished UI.
- All Runners.
- All zones, including the Marathon Ship.
- Pinnacle and end game content.
- All weapons, items, consumables, implants, cores, and mods.
- All factions and upgrades.
- Long term progression and systems.
- Complete narrative and storytelling systems and final shipping content.
- Ranked play.
- Final balance.
Those hoping to experience the best of Marathon won't find it in the alpha, that much is for sure. "We plan to break stuff," is what Bungie reiterated in the pre-alpha blog post, so expect a few things to go wrong.
What we know for sure is Marathon testers will be able to try out one map with four Runners to choose from. More Runners will be added at launch/before it in other tests.
Specifically, Bungie is seeking feedback on weapons, gunplay, map layout, Runner kits and playstyle, progression through a Marathon session, PvP, and PvE engagements.
What can alpha testers share about Marathon?
As of April 18, there is no longer an NDA on what alpha testers can share about Marathon. Players will be able to stream content and share their unabashed thoughts on Marathon — and Bungie hopes players won't hold back their criticism if there's any problems.
"As developers we believe community feedback and dialog is essential to make the best version of Marathon. In the spirit of building towards that future, we’ve decided to remove the NDA from our Closed Alpha Test. Everyone can share their thoughts, feedback, and footage, including streaming starting on April 23," the statement read.
Bungie has also opened a creators page and plans to host multiple Q&A sessions with developers and studio heads to keep the community updated.
That's all for now! If you nabbed a Marathon alpha key, good luck for April 23's launch! For more Marathon news stay tuned to esports.gg.
