{"id":13302,"date":"2026-05-14T09:28:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextlevelnews.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/05\/14\/marathon-season-2-detailed\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T09:28:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:28:36","slug":"marathon-season-2-detailed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nextlevelnews.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/05\/14\/marathon-season-2-detailed\/","title":{"rendered":"Marathon Season 2 Detailed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Marathon<\/u><\/a> developer Bungie has unveiled what, exactly, will change as Season 2 begins, teasing “liberated chaos” as players “know a fresh start is just around the corner” when update 1.0.9 drops next Tuesday (May 19).<\/p>\n

“Runners continue to pillage what isn\u2019t theirs across Tau Ceti, and the UESC is growing tired of their criminal activities,” Bungie teased<\/u><\/a>. “As Season 1 comes to a close, you\u2019ll see the first of the UESC\u2019s renewed security efforts, with more to come when Season 2: Nightfall begins on June 2. More details about Season 2 will drop as we get closer to June 2. In the meantime, we have a couple of end-of-season updates to preview. We also want to share more details about the seasonal reset, including what you keep, what goes, and loot rewards you\u2019ll receive when Nightfall begins on June 2.”<\/p>\n

From here until the end of the season, you’ll find locked room keys are guaranteed to drop from Wardens, and map events like Intercept, Lockdown, Warden spawns, Convoy, and Anomaly will now be guaranteed on each run, so you can “benefit from their better rewards even more often.”<\/p>\n

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As a consequence of this, you should expect increases in UESC presence across Tau Ceti IV in response to Runner activity, new warden encounters, more UESC dropship flyovers, and a mysterious new threat on Dire Marsh and Perimeter.<\/p>\n

When Season 2 kicks off, Marathon will go through its first-ever seasonal reset to give everyone a “clean slate and equal footing at the start of the new season.” These resets include things related to gameplay progression; you\u2019ll keep your achievements, non-seasonal Codex progression, and cosmetics \u2014 see below for the full breakdown.<\/p>\n

These changes are the latest of many. Just last month, Marathon doubled the amount of Depleted Patch Kits (meds) and Depleted Shield Charges (armor) consumables players could carry in a single inventory slot<\/u><\/a>, and nerfed \u2014 then rebuffed \u2014 the WSTR combat shotgun as Bungie bid to make its extraction shooter less punishing for newbies. The week before, Bungie’s boldest attempt yet<\/u><\/a> went live, introducing the CyberAcme Runner Reinforcement Initiative (C.A.R.R.I.), a “new protocol from ONI that rewards solo Runners and coordinated crews for completing contract objectives and exfiling together.”<\/p>\n

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Last week, Sony reported a $765 million impairment loss due to underperformance<\/u><\/a> of Bungie during its last financial year, after it bought the company in early 2022 in a deal valued at $3.6 billion. But Sony chief financial officer Lin Tao has indicated it will stick with Marathon in a bid to grow its user base. “Player reception to Marathon is strong, with the game receiving a Metacritic score of 82 and more than 90% of the player reviews on Steam being positive,” Tao said. “Engagement metrics such as retention also remain at a high level. Going forward, we aim to improve the performance of the game by working to retain highly engaged core users through the introduction of additional content, further improvements in the gameplay experience and expansion of the user base.”<\/p>\n

Season 2 Begins June 2<\/h2>\n

Runners continue to pillage what isn\u2019t theirs across Tau Ceti, and the UESC is growing tired of their criminal activities. As Season 1 comes to a close, you\u2019ll see the first of the UESC\u2019s renewed security efforts, with more to come when Season 2: NIGHTFALL begins on June 2. More details about Season 2 will drop as we get closer to June 2.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, we have a couple of end-of-season updates to preview. We also want to share more details about the seasonal reset, including what you keep, what goes, and loot rewards you\u2019ll receive when NIGHTFALL begins on June 2.<\/p>\n

End of Season Update<\/h2>\n

As the season comes to an end, we want to embrace the feeling of liberated chaos that comes from knowing a fresh start for everyone is just around the corner. To that, our goal with update 1.0.9 coming next Tuesday is to amp up some of the rewards you can earn to make your runs more lucrative and exciting.<\/p>\n

Guaranteed Map Events and Keys<\/h3>\n

Locked room keys are guaranteed to drop from Wardens for the remainder of the season. Additionally, map events like Intercept, Lockdown, Warden spawns, Convoy, and Anomaly will now be guaranteed on each run, so you can benefit from their better rewards even more often.<\/p>\n

Escalation in UESC Forces<\/h3>\n

Expect increases in UESC presence across Tau Ceti IV in response to Runner activity.<\/p>\n