‘Marathon’ PvE Mode Is Live, But Temper Your Expectations - Forbes

What the report says

Forbes contributor Paul Tassi reported that Bungie’s Marathon is adding an experimental player-versus-environment mode called Vault Breaker on July 21, 2026. The mode removes rival squads from the run structure and places solo players, duos or trios into Cryo, described by Forbes as the game’s hardest map, where they fight through vault areas and face the Compiler boss from the standard Cryo mode.

According to Forbes, Vault Breaker gives players a pre-set kit for the activity. Weapons and gear found during a run are not extracted into the wider game, but players can leave with currency. That currency can be spent on upgrades tied to Vault Breaker kits or abilities, or on rotating store items usable across modes, including Marathon’s regular extraction gameplay. Forbes also noted that Vendor and Cradle upgrades still apply alongside the mode’s own progression tree.

Tassi framed the launch as an important but limited test for Marathon, arguing that PvE may be one of the game’s remaining major options after earlier attempts to lower barriers for extraction-mode players and periods of free access did not substantially change player numbers. However, he cautioned that Vault Breaker is a two-week trial and not a fully developed permanent PvE offering.

The Forbes analysis says a larger PvE mode is planned for season 3, making Vault Breaker more of an early experiment than the final test of the concept. Tassi suggested the upcoming full version will be the more meaningful measure of whether PvE can broaden interest in Marathon.