Matchmaking for pairs and PC performance — Marathon developers reviewed feedback after the test
The Marathon stress test wraps up very soon. After four days of playtests, Bungie sifted through a mountain of reports and, as they highlighted, pulled out the topics that kept coming up. Some fixes are already in, but other problems will need more time.
- At Bungie, folks say they "heard player requests" about proper 2-player lobbies. Right now the test offers solo and trio search options; queuing as a duo is possible, but matches still end up with a third Runner added.
- The team intends to go beyond basic remapping — players will be able to fully unbind keys from commands, not just reassign them.
- A number of players complained firefights feel short and that encounters with others are uncommon; others thought the pace was fine. Bungie will be looking into Runner density on maps, esp. for more experienced players.
- Feedback gathering continues on ammo and medkit placement, movement feel, and how quickly the heat meter builds. UI criticism was loudest early on — cluttered, many said — so the studio plans more UI work after launch. (UI/UX tweaks, etc.)
- PC performance is getting attention. Common reports: high CPU load while GPU sits idle, fps appearing capped around ~80–100, and microstutters during intense skirmishes.
Some specific problems are already fixed: in-game voice chat was repaired, the mouse input lag that affected streamers and users of screen-capture tools was reduced, and the nickname bug that could involuntarily change names to Redacted was addressed.
If you meant to try Marathon for free, don’t wait — the open stress test ends today at 21:00 Moscow time. The full PvPvE extraction shooter launches March 5 on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series, with full Russian localization.
The Steam peak didn’t climb beyond the launch spike — the initial high-water mark was 143.6k concurrent players and it held there rather than rising further, per the Steam charts.