A PvP-focused extraction shooter set on the mysterious planet of Tau Ceti IV, Marathon will see players inhabit the bodies of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries who have been designed to survive the planet’s harsh environments, exploring the lost colony that once inhabited Tau Ceti’s surface. Players will engage solo or in crews of three, searching for mysterious alien artifacts, as well as for valuable loot and new weapons and gear that they can add to their collection.

A massive ghost ship hangs in low orbit over a lost colony. The 30,000 souls who called this world home have disappeared without a trace. Strange signals hint at rumors of mysterious artifacts, long-dormant AI, and troves of untold riches. You are a cybernetic mercenary – a Runner – and your destination is Tau Ceti IV. You are one of many, working solo or with a crew, venturing into the unknown and facing the unimaginable in a fight for survival, for riches, for fame... and for infamy. Who among you will write their names across the stars? 

In Marathon, players inhabit a Runner, a cybernetic mercenary scouring the remains of a lost colony of Tau Ceti IV for fortune and power. Players team up in crews of three as they battle rival Runner teams and hostile security forces for weapons and upgrades. Survive and everything they’ve scavenged is theirs to keep for future runs on Tau Ceti IV—or if they’re brave enough, a journey to the derelict Marathon ship that hangs above.

Welcome to Tau Ceti IV, a lost colony whose inhabitants disappeared without a trace. Rival factions compete for the resources left behind, hiring Runners who’ve given up their human form for biosynthetic shells. Death is but a hurdle in this cutthroat competition where power, fortune, and answers to Tau Ceti IV’s mysteries hang in the balance.

Choose from a roster of cybernetic mercenaries with unique abilities. Players customize their Runner’s playstyle with the weapons, implants, and equipment they collect on their runs. Strategize, execute, and become Tau Ceti’s most feared mercenary.

In December, we shared a new look at Marathon in our ViDoc, where we dove into things like immersion, zones, new features since alpha, and more.

Today we want to share more about Runner shells, the moddable biosynthetic bodies you’ll inhabit on your runs to Tau Ceti.

Runner Shells: Tools for Survival

As a Runner, you’ve sacrificed your physical form and transferred your consciousness into a biosynthetic shell designed to help you survive Tau Ceti—or at least make it so dying isn’t a permanent affliction.

Each Runner shell is built around a different gameplay archetype, such as intel gathering, combat disruption, or combat healing. With distinct silhouettes, shells allow you to evaluate player threats and strategize your next steps on the fly.

Each Runner shell’s playstyle can be customized using the cores, implants, weapons, and mods you bring on your runs. We’ll talk about the ways you can customize your shells visually in the future, including more details on the earnable cosmetics you’ll unlock through the Codex and other ways.

Customize Your Playstyle

There are multiple ways you can play each Runner shell, and the gear you equip allows you to push each archetype in different directions.

For example, with Vandal you can lean into a mobility build, with powerful map traversal and repositioning. Equip cores that turn your double jump into a triple jump, and implants that increase your base movement speed, jump height, and improve your heat capacity.

Or you could go for a more chaotic and disruptive playstyle. For example, there's a combination for Vandal that lets you turn your arm cannon into a self-propel, which you can then fire downwards to propel yourself into the air, use your airtime to position where to land, then deal AoE damage wherever you fall (without taking fall damage).

Combine your cores, implants, and Runner shells with the weapons and mods at your disposal to craft your unique playstyle and theorycraft new ways to survive and reach greater heights.

Cores and Implants – What's the Difference?

Cores and implants both modify your Runner shell, but they do so in different ways.

Cores are generally designed for one specific Runner shell, and they tend to buff or modify the way your abilities work. For example, one of Thief's cores gives you a second charge of your Grapple Device, and another causes your Pickpocket Drone to periodically ping nearby enemies while it’s not being piloted.

Implants can be used by any Runner shell, and they grant additional stats as well as a random perk. The highest-tier implants also have a bonus fixed perk, such the implant Ping+ V5, where your pings remain attached to enemies for a short period of time after breaking line of sight.

Runner Shell Rundown

Check out the above video to learn more.

• Runner Shell – Destroyer
  • Archetype: Combat specialist
  • Armed with a personal defense barricade, missile systems, and movement thrusters, Destroyer shells are designed to bring the fight to enemy threats.
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• Runner Shell – Assassin
  • Archetype: Shadow agent
  • Synthetic smoke deployment and camouflage technology allow Assassin shells to plan unseen strikes or take cover during hostile engagements.
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• Runner Shell – Recon
  • Archetype: Intel specialist
  • Recon shells excel at identifying threats and tracking movements using echo pulses, tracker drones, and holographic footstep trails.
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• Runner Shell – Vandal
  • Archetype: Combat anarchist
  • Vandal shells traverse ground at incredible speeds, using their advanced movement and knockback cannon to disrupt combat.
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• Runner Shell – Thief
  • Archetype: Covert acquisitions
  • With enhanced visors and piloted butterfly drone, Thief shells can locate and acquire loot, then use their grapple to push an advantage or make an escape.
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• Runner Shell – Triage
  • Archetype: Field medic
  • Triage shells help keep themselves and allies alive using deployable healing drones, onboard reboot abilities, and combat buffs.
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• Scavenger Mode – Rook
  • Archetype: Scavenger
  • The Rook frame is designed for scavenger mode, a unique way to play Marathon. As Rook, you’ll drop into a match that’s already in progress as a solo player. You won’t be able to bring a loadout, but you also aren’t risking anything, which makes Rook an excellent option for scavengers.
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Marathon is designed from the start as a PvP-focused game and won’t have a single-player campaign, instead, with the PvP experience as the foundation, Marathon creates opportunities for player-driven stories to unfold, stories that are integrated with the overarching game narrative in a world full of persistent, evolving zones, where players create their own journey with every run they take. That might mean an unforgettable firefight against another crew vying for the same loot, or a last-second extraction while beset on all sides.

Compete for survival, riches, and renown in a world of evolving, persistent zones, where any run can lead to greatness.

Marathon's gunplay sets the stage for a unique mix of tactical and fast-paced action, where every run is a tense competition for a big score. End game challenges, ranked play, seasonal storytelling, community events, and more await in Season 1.

Marathon is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam) in March 2026 at $39.99/€39.99/£34.99 with full cross-save and cross-play.