- Zero Tolerance: One-strike permabans for any confirmed cheating—no appeals, no second chances.
- Server Authority: Dedicated servers with server-side validation for combat and looting to prevent teleporting and infinite ammo hacks.
- Anti-ESP Measures: A "Fog of War" system restricts player clients from seeing map data beyond their immediate area to kill wall hacks and loot revealers.
- Economic Protection: Specific systems in place to prevent item duplication and protect player time investment.
- Reconnect Support: Match reconnection is supported; if a Bungie-side error prevents a return, starting gear will be refunded to affected players.
Bungie Lays Down the Law: Marathon’s Zero-Tolerance Security
In the high-stakes world of extraction shooters, a single cheater doesn't just ruin a match—they can tank the entire meta. We’ve seen it happen recently with the item duplication crisis in Arc Raiders, where "duck dupe" glitches forced Embark to swing the ban hammer. Bungie clearly recognizes that if Marathon is going to survive the sweaty Tau Ceti IV extraction loop, it needs an ironclad security posture from day one.
Our take? Bungie is playing hardball. The studio just dropped a massive technical brief outlining a "burn the boats" approach to security. The most aggressive takeaway is the permaban policy. Bungie isn't interested in "rehabilitating" bad actors. As the blog puts it: "Anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned from playing Marathon forever, no second chances." If you're caught trying to weasel your way into an unfair advantage, your account is toast. Period.
The Tech Stack: Killing God Mode and Wallhacks
Dedicated servers are the baseline here, but Bungie is going further with server-side authority. In many shooters, the client (your PC) tells the server what happened. In Marathon, the server is the boss. This architecture is designed to make "impossible" cheats—like teleporting across the map, infinite ammo, or god-mode damage negation—virtually impossible to execute. If the server didn't authorize the movement or the bullet, it didn't happen.
The "Fog of War" Counter-Measure
Wallhacks and ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) cheats are the silent killers of the extraction genre. To counter this, Bungie is implementing a "Fog of War" system. This tech limits the data sent to your PC, ensuring your client only knows about the regions of the map you are actually in. If your computer doesn't know where a high-tier loot crate or an enemy player is located three hallways away, a cheat provider can't highlight it on your screen.
Respecting the Grind: Economy and Reconnects
We’ve all been there: you’re carrying a heavy haul of rare loot, and your internet blinks, or the server hiccuped. Usually, that’s "GG" for your gear. Bungie is addressing this head-on. Marathon will feature a robust reconnect system. More importantly, if the disconnect is confirmed to be an issue on Bungie’s end, they’ve committed to attempting to return starting gear to the affected players. It's a massive quality-of-life win that respects the player's time.
Bungie also explicitly mentioned "economic security," a direct nod to the duplication exploits currently plaguing their competitors. They stated, "We will strive to keep your progress safe and protected from item duplication or other economic cheats." In a game where your vault of weapons and gear represents hundreds of hours of "pilfering," keeping the scarcity of the "Longshot" sniper or "Combat Shotgun" intact is vital for the game's longevity.
The studio admits that "no network or security model can guarantee perfection," but this proactive stance is exactly what we need to see. Bungie wants to ensure "your deaths are due to your own mistakes or enemy outplays," and if they can deliver on that promise, Marathon might just set the new gold standard for competitive security.