Bungie is taking a hard stance against cheaters in its upcoming multiplayer shooter Marathon. In a blog post outlining the game’s networking and security systems, the studio warned that anyone caught cheating will be permabanned from playing the game, with no second chances.
Bungie says it has rebuilt Marathon’s security stack from the ground up in an effort to protect the integrity of those matches and make sure players’ success reflects skill, not exploits.
Marathon’s security systems and cheating policy
To make cheating harder, Marathon will run on authoritative dedicated servers that control key gameplay actions like combat, looting, and movement. This means player devices cannot unilaterally dictate outcomes or manipulate game states in their favor. Additional systems, like Fog of War, will limit the information shared with players and reduce the effectiveness of common cheats such as wall hacks or loot revealers.
Bungie states clearly that “anyone found to be cheating or developing cheats will be permanently banned from playing Marathon forever, no second chances.” This zero-tolerance policy differs from other games that allow multiple infractions before more serious consequences.
Bungie acknowledges that no anti-cheat system is perfect and says it will maintain an appeals process for players who believe they were wrongly flagged. The company is also using analytics to monitor gameplay for unusual patterns and anomalies that could indicate cheating.
With Marathon’s “Server Slam” open preview weekend approaching, and the game scheduled for wide release next month, players will soon be able to put these security tools to the test firsthand.
Marathon is a competitive extraction shooter set on the world of Tau Ceti IV, where players hunt for loot and battle both opponents and environmental threats.
After a long delay, the game is finally set to launch with a confirmed release date and full cross-platform support across consoles and PC.