Bungie is handing out permanent bans for cheating in Marathon with no appeals

While ARC Raiders is still dealing with the fallout from its item duplication glitch that wrecked the in-game economy, Bungie is getting ahead of the problem by laying out its security stance for Marathon. The studio has published a detailed blog covering networking and anti-cheat measures.

The core message is straightforward:

"We want you to know your deaths are due to your own mistakes or enemy outplays—not because your run was compromised by network issues, cheaters, or the hardware hosting your connection to the world."

Bungie acknowledges that no system can offer a perfect guarantee, but says it's committed to protecting the competitive experience.

Marathon will include the following protections:

• Dedicated servers with server-side authority over key combat and looting actions – preventing client-side exploits like teleporting, unlimited ammo, or damage avoidance

• A Fog of War system that limits what map information each client can access – a direct counter to wall hacks, ESP cheats, and loot revealers

• If you lose connection mid-match, you'll be able to reconnect and keep playing; if the drop was on Bungie's end, it will attempt to restore starting gear to all affected players

The harshest measure is aimed squarely at cheaters:

"Anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned from playing Marathon forever, no second chances."

Bungie makes it clear that reaching out to support to get a ban lifted won't help either.

The blog also brings up "economic security" – a pointed reference to the ARC Raiders situation, where the duplication glitch forced Embark to hand out warnings and bans across the board.

"Over time you may fill your vault with weapons, gear, and anything else of value you acquire on Tau Ceti IV. We take your investment of time seriously. We will strive to keep your progress safe and protected from item duplication or other economic cheats."

Whether all of this holds up in practice remains to be seen.

Marathon launches March 5, 2026 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series. An open beta kicks off February 26.