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The first Marathon free week is nearly here, letting anyone on Steam, PS5, or Xbox Series X try out the full version of Bungie's extraction shooter for free. It's no secret that the game has proven to be divisive, so if you were on the fence about it before, this free trial is a great time to check out the improvements made to Marathon since launch and all the new Season 2 content. Here are the important details you need to know about Marathon's free week, including when it starts and ends and what you get to play.
Marathon free week start and end time
Marathon's first free week runs from 7pm UTC on June 2 to 2pm UTC on June 9 and will be available on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series X. This works out as the following times around the world:
- US Pacific: 12pm PDT on June 2 – 7am PDT on June 9
- US Eastern: 3pm EDT on June 2 – 10am EDT on June 9
- UK: 8pm BST on June 2 – 3pm BST on June 9
- Central Europe: 9pm CEST on June 2 – 4pm CEST on June 9
- Eastern Australia: 5am AEST on June 3 – 12am AEST on June 9
This gives you pretty much a full week to give the game a go at the start of Season 2 but be aware that you will need a relevant online multiplayer subscription if you're playing Marathon on PS5 or Xbox Series X – PS Plus Essentia for PS5 or Game Pass Essential for Xbox. Be sure to also check out our Marathon guide if you're getting started! If you like what you play, the game will even be on sale for the start of Season 2 as well, though the exact discount isn't yet known.
Everything you can play during the Marathon free period
If you play Marathon during the free week period mentioned above, you'll have access to the full game for that time. That means you can try out all Marathon Runner Shells, start ranking up all Marathon Factions, and more.
You'll also get to try all the new Marathon Season 2 content, including the Night Marsh Marathon map, Sentinel Runner Shell, new weapons, and the limited-time experimental Sponsored Survival mode. In this mode, only one Runner team will be present on the Night Marsh map at any time, facing the full force of the UESC and eventually some hungry Rook players who can join the match after a while. Sponsored Survival also features a reduced run timer (set to 18 minutes) and no exfils besides the final exfil, so the only way of escaping is surviving until the end.
The only things you won't be able to play are the Marathon Cryo Archive endgame map and ranked mode, as both are unavailable until May 11 and 14 respectively.
But, best of all, any progress you make during free week will carry over if you then buy the full game at any point during Season 2 (if you buy the game in a later season, your account will still be subject to the regular gear reset, so you'll lose any gear and progression). If you're hopping in for the free week, be sure to check out the introductory guides below that will help you get through the first few quests:
