Players of Bungie's Marathon have made significant progress over the weekend in solving an alternate reality game puzzle tied to the upcoming Cryo Archive map. By activating terminals on the Perimeter map and coordinating community efforts, they unlocked all camera feeds on a related website. The achievement marks the completion of the first phase in a 13-step process to access the endgame content.
Bungie's extraction shooter Marathon, released on March 5, 2026, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, introduced an ARG on March 6 when terminals on the initial map, Perimeter, became active. These terminals, reminiscent of those in the original Marathon trilogy, direct players to specific locations for voice logs believed to be from Durandal, a key AI character from the series.
There are three pairs of terminals, each revealing a message when visited in sequence. Clues from these led to the Cryoarchives Systems website, featuring scrambled security camera feeds of the Cryo Archive—the game's fourth and hardest map—with progress bars updating every 15 minutes. Initially, only three bars were visible, stalling progress until Bungie provided hints via a new Discord channel.
Community efforts, led by streamer MrRoflWaffles, involved coordinating players to activate terminals during timed intervals, filling the bars and revealing map glimpses like Cargo, Control, and Index areas. By midnight on March 9, all cameras were unlocked, though six now loop 're-establish connection,' suggesting next steps on Dire Marsh and Outpost maps.
Dataminers indicate this is step three of a 13-step puzzle requiring further website decoding and cooperation. The ARG aims to unlock the full Cryo Archive for exploration, PvE fights, and PvP encounters. Meanwhile, Bungie plans a patch this week to improve objective detection, spawn rates, and ammo in kits, addressing launch feedback alongside monetization adjustments in the near future.
