Marathon is now available for pre-order (otherwise known as pre-purchase) on Steam, but it arrived with a strange bug. Users were reporting an issue causing free-to-play Destiny 2 to begin installing once they had pre-ordered the new $40 title – $60 if you opt for the Deluxe Edition.

Developed by Halo and Destiny creators Bungie, Marathon is the latest game to join the ever-growing list of extraction shooters hoping to capture the same success as the likes of Escape from Tarkov, Helldivers 2, and most recently, ARC Raiders, a game which recently helped Steam set a new record for December revenue, thanks to around 1.2 million sales.

There was also a fix for Marathon Collector’s Edition owners

Bungie confirmed the bug on social media and has confirmed this issue has been resolved. The Marathon dev team also fixed another pre-order bug, which prevented Collector’s Edition owners from receiving the game when trying to activate the associated Steam code. Bungie is selling the Collector’s Edition with and without a game code included, the latter costing $170. This price jumps up to $229.99 when bundled with a Deluxe Edition game code.

As hype for the new extraction shooter grows, something you may not have realized is that Bungie actually released a trilogy of Marathon games back in the ’90s – all three of them are free to play on Steam thanks to restoration work from the community, released under the developer name Aleph One. Lore aside, don’t expect the gameplay to be too similar to the brand-new 2026 release, but it’s nice to be able to easily look back at the classic shooter while we wait for launch.

Marathon releases on March 5, available on PC (Windows), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S with full crossplay and cross-save support. Bungie has noted that for PC gamers, the title will only be available through Steam.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.