Bungie has officially confirmed the start and end dates for the Marathon closed alpha, giving a select group of players the first opportunity to test the upcoming extraction shooter on Tau Ceti IV. If you’ve received an alpha code, now’s the time to prepare because the play window is limited, and every moment counts.
Closed Alpha Start Date & Time
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Start Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
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Start Time: 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET
When servers go live, those with codes can jump in immediately. However, given the alpha status, players should anticipate possible server issues or technical hiccups, which are common in early testing phases.
Closed Alpha End Date
Although no official end time has been announced, players can expect to have 11 full days to explore the game and test its systems. The window may close at any point on May 4, so plan accordingly.
What to Expect Next
Once the closed alpha ends, no additional testing is currently planned, but Bungie has told us of a potential beta test in the near future. This upcoming beta may be open to more regions, especially international players who have expressed their desire to join. We will have to wait and see exactly when a closed or open beta test would arrive, and for what regions it would be for.
“There will be additional opportunities to play Marathon before release in September,” Bungie stated.
The closed alpha serves as a critical milestone in the development process, giving Bungie valuable feedback while offering fans their first hands-on look at the much-anticipated revival of the Marathon franchise. For fans who are not able to get a key or participate in the closed alpha, Bungie has lifted the NDA on the closed alpha so we will be able to watch plenty of people playing or streaming the game and read their reviews and thoughts on it! We can only hope the reviews and consensus for the game are positive.
We have already gotten our first looks at the game due to a slight hiccup and an error on Bungies part, Xbox players were able to access the Marathon servers a day early and were able to play a few matches before the servers were shut down to reopen at the appropriate time today. Here is a 9 minute video showing a little bit of gameplay that we found on X.
What are your thoughts on the news? Are you going to be testing the alpha for Marathon today? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below!