Bungie is experimenting with its extraction shooter Marathon: With Season 2, the game's first dedicated PvE mode, dubbed "Vault Breaker," goes live today. Instead of competing against other players as usual, teams will cooperatively navigate through the "Cryo Archive"—a dungeon-like area full of enemies and loot, available as a limited-time experiment from July 21st to August 4th.
In parallel with the new mode, Bungie is also making foundational adjustments:
- Balance adjustments for several weapons and pieces of equipment
- New "Loadout-Limited" rules dictating which equipment combinations are permitted in certain matches
- The new co-op mode "Vault Breaker" in the Cryo Archive as a limited-time experiment
- Various minor bug fixes related to matchmaking and game stability
The patch arrives at a delicate time: Just a few days ago, it was announced that Game Director Joseph Ziegler is leaving the studio—only four months after Marathon's rather disappointing launch. He will be succeeded by Del Chafe III. This change is part of an already tense period for Sony's studios, which have recently been affected by significant layoff waves. Many observers now consider Marathon to be one of Sony's most precarious live-service projects.
Whether the new PvE mode will inject fresh life into the game remains to be seen—for Bungie, "Vault Breaker" is certainly a test balloon: If the mode is well-received, it could become permanent content instead of just a two-week experiment.
Source: DLCompare
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