Issues are formally wanting higher for Marathon. The sport’s Server Slam, primarily an open beta that’s freely obtainable in all places, has kicked off. That is the final likelihood for anybody inquisitive about Bungie’s subsequent huge sport to play it earlier than it formally goes on sale subsequent week.
Contemplating how unpopular the sport has been all through its improvement, and judging by the suggestions from earlier closed beta checks, the turnout for the Server Slam is unquestionably encouraging.
The Marathon Server Slam has been on-line for a bit of over 12 hours on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Collection X/S. Solely a type of platforms shares participant numbers, after all, but it surely’s sufficient to supply some visibility into how common the take a look at has been.
Instantly after servers went stay, Marathon shot up the Steam most performed charts. The sport rapidly achieved a peak of 143,621 concurrent gamers (through SteamDB), which could be very respectable. Provided that the Server Slam will likely be obtainable for your entire weekend, there’s each likelihood the numbers will go up.
These figures are notably encouraging once you take a look at Arc Raiders, the present high canine within the extraction shooter house, and the sport that stole Marathon’s thunder final 12 months when the 2 of them have been being promoted by their publishers. Marathon, after all, bought delayed out of 2025, which allowed Arc Raiders to launch first. It, after all, ended up proving that extraction shooters might be mainstream hits.
Like Marathon, Arc Raiders hosted its personal server slam just some days earlier than its launch. That open take a look at attracted 189,668 concurrent gamers at its peak, which isn’t that far off from Marathon’s up to now.
Assuming optimistic phrase of mouth continues, extra gamers are certain to leap in over the weekend and maybe get Marathon to match and even exceed Arc Raiders’ document. At any price, that is excellent news for beleaguered Bungie and factors to what might be an enormous launch.
Marathon arrives March 5 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Collection X/S.
