Bungie Issues Statement on Controversial Marathon Microtransactions

Bungie’s Marathon is now giving players just a little more bonus LUX premium currency for the price of a $10 purchase, and while the amount granted is just a hair over what it was at launch, it could make a world of difference. Marathon has earned some early criticism over its microtransactions, but the recent increase in LUX payout is likely to do a lot to quash concerns.

Marathon‘s highly anticipated release on March 5 was a big relief for fans, especially following reports from June 2025 that development of the game had been delayed indefinitely. Marathon‘s early user reviews are slowing rolling in, and it’s currently at a 90 percent user satisfaction rating on Steam. Other fan review sites have it trending slightly to the negative, however, with players sharply divided over its quality, and next to no one placing it as a middle-of-the-road game in the crowded extraction shooter genre. This division among fans covers everything from its character and map designs to its high-stakes gameplay, but another problem exists with its microtransaction system, which a lot of players have found upsetting.

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Marathon Players Should Have an Easier Time Affording Runner Skins

Soon, players buying LUX at the $10 level will be getting just a little bit more for their purchases, as reported in a new article published on the game’s official Twitter account. The amount of LUX in that microtransaction is being bumped up from 1,100 to 1,120, which is only about a two-percent increase, but one that will do a lot to quell one of Marathon‘s biggest issues regarding purchases. That’s because skins in the game typically cost 1,120 LUX, which turns out to be exactly the new price of a $10 purchase once the change goes into effect. Prior to the change, budget-conscious players spending at the $10 level will be coming up just 20 LUX shy of a new skin, with the cheapest option left being to spend an additional $5 for the purchase of 500 more LUX, leaving a lot of overflow.

The article posted by Bungie does not state the exact date that this change will be going into effect, but it does mention that the game’s first update is scheduled to arrive within about a week, which may be a hint that this is the general timeframe during which the price will be adjusted. Bungie also does not specifically mention that the price of runner skins in Marathon is the reason behind the change in bonus LUX, though the amount it is being adjusted by being equal to a typical skin’s exact price has been hard to ignore among the fan community.

The move to give players just a tiny amount more for their money could provide a boost to Bungie in Marathon‘s early days, and it looks like the game may need it in order to stay competitive against ARC Raiders, Embak Studios’ extraction shooter which was released in October, and the current king of the extraction shooter hill. Presently, ARC Raiders has a 24-hour peak current player count of more than 204,000 players and an all-time high of just shy of 482,000, while Marathon‘s numbers pale in comparison, at around 78,000 and 88,000, respectively, according to the charts at SteamDB.

Image via Bungie

While its launch has failed to place it at the top of the heap, Bungie has plans in place to adjust Marathon based on the feedback it’s been getting from users, particularly relying on information gathered from its pre-release Server Slam event. Some of the features teased for the first update include doubling the visible distance of objective nav points, increasing the number of Med Cabinets and Munition Crates, and giving players more starting ammunition in MIDA, CyberAcme, and Arachne free Sponsored Kits. Additionally, Bungie announced last week that it would be making changes to fix Marathon‘s UI issues, which have been a major point of contention among detractors, but finding the perfect UI formula could be a long and ongoing process.

Released

March 5, 2026

ESRB

Teen / Animated Blood, Language, Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op