Bungie is lifting the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) players need to sign for the Marathon closed alpha, meaning anyone with access can share their and footage online. The sci-fi extraction shooter is due out later this year, but some players are about to get a slice of the experience ahead of time. If you were one of the many who wasn't picked by Bungie to participate you don't need to worry, as you'll still see plenty new gameplay over the coming weeks. If this tells me anything, it's that Bungie is very confident in what we're about to see.
With the Marathon release date slated for later this year, Bungie has a long road ahead of it. After creating both Destiny and Halo, the team is turning the clock back to one of its '90s IP, and reviving Marathon as something even bigger. If you signed up for the closed alpha, starting Wednesday April 23, Bungie is sending out invites right now – but not to everyone.
If you don't end up with a code for the Marathon alpha, don't worry, you'll still get to see the FPS game in action soon. "As developers we believe community and dialog is essential to make the best version of Marathon," Bungie writes. "Up until now, this has come from closed playtest sessions. 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, , and footage, including streaming starting on Wednesday April 23."
What you'll see during the closed alpha period is far from the finished product, however, as Bungie says it wants to test technical capabilities and the gameplay loop with a plan to "break stuff." This means the Marathon you'll see won't have finalized visuals and graphics, a polished UI, every runner, all in-game zones, endgame content, each weapon, long-term progression systems, ranked play, or even final balance. Once the Marathon alpha concludes on Sunday May 4, Bungie will be summarizing the it's been given alongside what comes next for the game.
If you can't get into the alpha but want to experience Marathon for yourself, there is another way. Bungie's original Marathon system requirements against your rig.
With a lot riding on Marathon, Bungie's confidence to drop the alpha NDA and let everyone share their thoughts and gameplay speaks to a high level of confidence. Marathon won't be perfect during the alpha, of course, but it's still a good sign that Bungie wants everyone to see it exactly how it'll be played later this year.
We also have all the space games on PC today, if you want more to play while waiting for Marathon.
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