Bungie is expanding Marathon with a fresh wave of Cryo Archive content, and it’s shaping up to be one of the more structured, progression-focused updates the game has seen so far. Alongside new activities and quality-of-life improvements, Bungie is also testing a Duo option and addressing technical issues that have been impacting runs.
Cryo Archive introduces a Security Clearance system that affects how you move through a match. Instead of every route and resource being equally available, your clearance determines access to key doors, supply rooms, and exfil points during a run. That added layer of gating is designed to make decision-making feel more strategic, especially when you’re trying to weigh risk versus reward under pressure.
The zone also features seven Vaults, and each one comes with its own access requirements plus a specific Vault Key. Bungie says Vault Keys can be found out in planet-side areas, earned through higher-risk tasks, or taken by force after defeating enemy crews. In practice, this gives players multiple paths to chase the same high-value objective, whether you prefer exploration, challenging activities, or PvP encounters.
Progression is getting a meaningful boost, too. Cryo Archive includes a pool of seven unique contracts that appear in CyberAcme while the mode is active. Completing these contracts can reward high-rarity items, making them an attractive weekly target for players looking to improve their loadouts. Bungie also notes that Codex progression connected to Cryo Archive carries over from week to week, which should help the mode feel less like a one-off event and more like something you can steadily work through over time.
Outside of Cryo Archive itself, Bungie is testing an Experimental Duo Queue in Perimeter for a limited two-week window starting March 18. For players who prefer a tighter, two-person tactical setup, this could be a big deal, and it also signals Bungie is willing to trial matchmaking formats based on how the community is actually playing.
On the technical side, Bungie is rolling out a server-side fix for an equipment stack-limit issue. The studio says this adjustment should also reduce “anteater” errors during runs, which have been a frustrating reliability problem for some players. In-game notices also indicate that Ranked Mode is on the way, along with additional Cryo Archive activities, suggesting the current rollout is just the beginning.
Overall, these updates point to a clear pattern: Marathon is being shaped in response to player behavior and feedback. With deeper vault systems, weekly contract incentives, persistent Codex progression, Duo testing, and stability improvements, Bungie appears focused on making each run more rewarding, more reliable, and more worth coming back to.
