Bungie Announces Anti-Cheat Measures for Marathon

Bungie, the developer behind the Destiny and Halo franchises, announced comprehensive anti-cheat and networking measures for its upcoming extraction shooter Marathon on February 23, 2026, emphasizing a zero-tolerance policy ahead of the game's March 5 launch. The studio detailed these systems in a blog post, highlighting permanent bans for any detected cheating as players prepare for a free Server Slam event starting February 26.

The core of Marathon's security approach is a one-strike permanent ban for players caught cheating or developing cheats, with no appeals for clear violations. Bungie stated, "Anyone found to be cheating or developing cheats will be permanently banned from playing Marathon forever. No second chances." An appeals process exists for disputed cases, but the studio underscored its commitment to swift enforcement. To support this, dedicated servers will oversee all combat and looting actions, rejecting invalid client inputs such as teleporting, unlimited ammunition, or damage manipulation before they affect other players. A telemetry system will analyze gameplay data in real time, flagging anomalies like sudden acquisitions of rare items that suggest...