Marathon's Symbiosis Trailer Reveals the Bishop Shell and a Permanent PvE Mode
Bungie's new gameplay trailer for Marathon's Symbiosis update shows off the blade-wielding Bishop shell, a permanent PvE mode, and two new weapons.
Bungie has pulled back the curtain on Symbiosis, the next major update for Marathon, with a new gameplay trailer that shows off a reworked extraction zone, a long-requested permanent PvE mode, and a melee-focused Runner shell built for close-quarters duels. The video, posted to the game's official channel, is the clearest look yet at how Bungie plans to pull Marathon away from its original hardcore-extraction-only identity and toward something with more ways in for new players.
Symbiosis arrives on Tau Ceti IV on December 8, and it is a free update for everyone who owns Marathon on Steam, PS5 or Xbox Series X|S.
A Fungal-Choked Perimeter
The trailer spends its opening stretch on Perimeter, the zone that greeted every Runner at launch, and it barely looks the same. Alien fungal growth and spreading plant life have carved two new spaces into the map: the underground Burrows and a flooded Reservoir sitting beneath the surface. Bungie has also seeded the overhauled zone with a new threat, the Tick Queen, which the developer describes as lurking beneath Perimeter waiting for Runners to wander too close.
It is a deliberate signal that Symbiosis is not just a content drop but a statement about where the extraction shooter is headed next: zones that evolve rather than sit static between seasons.
Expedition Brings a Permanent PvE Mode to Tau Ceti IV
The biggest structural change in the trailer is Expedition, a PvE-only mode built around a three-run series that players can tackle solo or with a full crew. Runs escalate in difficulty, and Flash Boosts let players reshape their loadout mid-run rather than being locked into whatever gear they started with. Bungie is calling it Phase 1, which suggests Expedition is meant to grow well past Symbiosis's December 8 launch.
For a game that built its reputation entirely around high-stakes extraction, a mode that strips out PvP risk is a notable concession to players who wanted a way to learn Marathon's combat and movement without losing their gear to another crew.
Deathmatch and the Bishop Runner Shell
On the competitive side, the trailer previews Deathmatch, an experimental beta mode built around short 3v3 Team Deathmatch matches. Crews fight for points without risking their permanent loadouts, giving Symbiosis a lower-commitment PvP option alongside the extraction runs that defined the game at launch.
The trailer also introduces the Bishop Runner shell, a fast, blade-wielding design built around aggressive melee pressure rather than the ranged playstyles most of the existing roster leans on. Bungie frames Bishop as a surgical, close-range option, and footage in the trailer shows it closing distance quickly before finishing fights with its melee weapon rather than a gun.
New Weapons and a Social Hub Called Limbo
Two new weapons appear alongside Bishop: the V17 Flamethrower, built for short-range area denial against groups of enemies or rival Runners, and the Maverick, a revolver Bungie describes as having a hand-cannon feel. Both are shown in the trailer against the Perimeter's new Burrows section, reinforcing how tightly the update ties its new spaces to its new tools.
Symbiosis also adds Limbo, a social hub where Runners can test weapons and gear at firing ranges or settle disputes in a dueling pit before heading back out to Tau Ceti IV. It is the kind of low-stakes space Marathon has lacked since launch, and it gives players somewhere to prepare outside the pressure of a live extraction run.
- Expedition: a solo- or crew-based PvE mode with escalating three-run series and mid-run Flash Boosts
- Deathmatch (Beta): low-stakes 3v3 Team Deathmatch that doesn't risk a crew's permanent loadout
- Bishop: a new melee-focused Runner shell built around a blade rather than a gun
- V17 Flamethrower and Maverick revolver: two new weapons debuting alongside the Perimeter rework
- Limbo: a social hub with firing ranges and a dueling pit for testing gear between runs
Open Play Week and What Comes After
Symbiosis launches alongside an Open Play Week running from December 8 through December 15, during which anyone can download and play the full game for free, regardless of whether they already own it. Separately, players who crew up with friends on Bungie, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S or Steam can earn limited-time rewards through December 22.
Bungie has also said Symbiosis is the first of several steps meant to push Marathon beyond its original extraction-only identity, with a larger update interconnecting PvE and PvP content planned for March 2027. For a game that launched in March 2026 to a mixed reception and spent much of its first year adjusting its content cadence, Symbiosis reads as Bungie's clearest attempt yet to widen who the game is actually for.
Official links
Mira leads previews at Gamers6. She has spent fifteen years playing co-op shooters badly and writing about them well, and she still keeps a spreadsheet of every weapon reload animation worth the frame count.
