- Primary Subject: Marathon (2026)
- Key Update: Bungie is implementing a major balance patch to nerf overperforming tools like bubble shields, thermal scopes, and snipers while buffing underused classes like Vandal and Recon.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: April 2, 2026
- Quick Answer: Bungie is overhauling Marathon’s meta by nerfing snipers and bubble shields to address falling player counts and stabilize the game’s competitive extraction-shooter ecosystem.
As Steam concurrent players for Marathon fall, the people over at Bungie are planning to shake things up with their upcoming update.
When Marathon first launched, it peaked with 88,337 concurrent players. However, just weeks after, that number has sharply fallen. Now, the game typically gets around 30,000 players, which is a sharp and sudden fall from grace.
However, the team at Bungie has expressed its resolve to have Marathon be a long-lasting game. And with their upcoming update, they aim to apply feedback from players to make the game even more fun.
Marathon To Make Major Changes to Gameplay in Next Update
For their upcoming patch, Bungie aims to release updates in response to outliers and observational feedback from players. The update will hopefully make the game feel more balanced for the players.
READ MORE: Marathon Update 1.05.2 Patch Notes as Duos Mode Experiment Moves to Outpost
Here are some of the areas they will be getting adjusted:
- Bubble shields are too easy to get, too powerful to use.
- The Knife is scaling too easily to god-like power levels.
- Thermal scopes are too present and dominant
- Snipers are too strong in all scenarios.
- Giving Vandal and Recon some more oomph to match their counterparts.
There will also be two secret updates - one to give solos a more common route to take when downed, and another, more merciful option between crews. Players can also expect more goodies and changes once the next update goes live.
This will be a huge change to the current gameplay situation in Marathon. Players had often complained about how easy it was to get bubble shields, which would place a gunfight to an abrupt halt, thanks to the strength of the shield. Knife scaling was also becoming an issue among Marathon players, as the rapid scaling meant players could die even with high-value shields.
The changes to thermal scopes mean that in the upcoming patches, players will no longer be able to pick out enemies in smoke. Snipers will also no longer be one-shot one-kill weapons.
These changes are set to take effect within the next two patches, which means it will be implemented soon. Based on previous updates, it's likely the next patch will come out on April 7 (Tuesday).
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