Marathon: Everything We Know About Symbiosis and the March Update

Last updated 29 Oct 2026

Marathon is Bungie’s sci-fi extraction shooter on Xbox Series X|S. Its next big update, Symbiosis, arrives on 8 December 2026, with a larger update planned for March. Here’s everything we know, and we’ll update this page as Bungie shares more.

What is Marathon?

You pick a Runner shell, each with its own abilities, and scavenge dangerous zones on a lost colony around Tau Ceti, alone or in a crew of two or three. You grab loot, intel and gear from rival players and enemy forces, then fight your way to extraction. Contracts, moddable weapons, a Ranked mode and the raid-like Cryo Archive add longer-term goals.

What’s in the Symbiosis update?

Bungie’s October roadmap confirms Symbiosis for 8 December. It adds:

• Marathon’s first permanent PvE experience
• An expanded Perimeter, transformed by a fungal ecosystem, with new paths and challenges akin to Pinwheel on Outpost or Upper Complex on Night Marsh
• A new Runner shell, Bishop, a fast hunter-killer built around speed, surprise and bursts of melee damage
• A Team Deathmatch mode
• Improved onboarding for new players
• A social space with a firing range

In its October 2026 Bungie Community Update, Bungie said it’s playtesting the upcoming experimental PvP mode and that the next Marathon Dev Insight video is due in early December.

What’s coming in March?

Bungie says the March update brings things together, with current plans including:

• An interconnected system of permanent PvE, PvP and PvEvP experiences
• A new onboarding experience
• A refactored Cradle and deeper shell progression
• More focused questlines and narrative
• New alien combatants
• An entirely new zone

What happened in October?

The Nightfall Refresh arrived on 6 October 2026. It reset progression and the in-game economy, added a new Reward Pass at no extra cost for everyone who owns Marathon, and adjusted Runner shells and weapons. Bungie has also moved away from a strict seasonal schedule, so major updates aren’t tied to fixed seasonal deadlines.

Find all our coverage on the Marathon hub, and see what Bungie is planning for Destiny in Destiny 2: everything we know.