Bungie extends Marathon free play week following PlayStation pricing confusion
Players who added the free trial to their library were shown a $14 price for the Deluxe Edition, which only granted access to a cosmetics bundle, prompting Bungie to extend the open play period.
Bungie has extended the free play week for its title Marathon following widespread confusion regarding the pricing of the Deluxe Edition on the PlayStation Store. Users who had added the free trial to their library were presented with a $14 price tag for the Deluxe Edition, which many assumed was the cost for the full game. In reality, this figure represented the price difference for the upgrade, granting only access to a cosmetics bundle.
The standard retail price for the Marathon Deluxe Edition is $60, with a typical discounted rate of $41.99. This pricing discrepancy appears to stem from PlayStation Store mechanics that display the upgrade cost when a free trial is active, rather than a direct error by Bungie. When a player adds the free trial to their library, the platform treats it as owning the base game, subsequently showing the price difference between the base and Deluxe editions as the cost for the upgrade.
This incident marks the second issue during the free week, following earlier server problems that forced emergency maintenance. The free week initially helped Marathon surge to approximately 40,000 concurrent players on Steam on June 2, but the technical difficulties and subsequent pricing confusion have added pressure to the launch period.
The extension of the free play period coincides with the launch of Marathon's second season, as Bungie seeks to stabilise player numbers while winding down its other major title, Destiny 2. The game has struggled to maintain popularity despite positive reviews, and the developer is relying on the free access window to bolster its user base.
It remains unclear how many players were affected by the pricing error or how many proceeded with the purchase under the misconception. The long-term impact of this controversy on player retention and the game's future popularity remains uncertain as Bungie navigates this transition period.
