{"id":1789937,"date":"2026-02-24T10:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T07:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1789937"},"modified":"2026-02-24T10:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T07:57:12","slug":"anyone-found-to-be-cheating-will-be-permabanned-bungie-outlines-marathons-robust-networking-and-security-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1789937","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned&#8221; &#8211; Bungie outlines Marathon&#8217;s robust networking and security features"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/marathon-2025\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Marathon (2025)<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">&#8220;Anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned&#8221; &#8211; Bungie outlines Marathon&#8217;s robust networking and security features<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Lost in space.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Marathon_robot-enemies.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Marathon - robot enemies\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Marathon_robot-enemies.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Bungie<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/fran-j-ruiz-author.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"fran-j-ruiz-author.png\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/fran-ruiz\">Fran Ruiz<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-02-24T10:57:12+00:00\">Feb. 24, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/bungie-outlines-marathon-networking-and-security-features?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          13 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"22d4da80-cbfb-48da-8b63-ca4c6bd7817c\" data-name=\"Marathon (2025)\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Marathon (2025)\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Marathon (2025)\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Marathon (2025)\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Marathon (2025)\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Marathon (2025)\" title=\"Follow Marathon (2025)\"><br \/>\n  Follow Marathon (2025)<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Excitement around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/marathon\">Marathon<\/a>&#8216;s launch next week seems to finally be a thing, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-come-has-come-for-you-to-judge-marathon-for-yourself-again-theres-a-new-server-slam-running-late-feb-into-march\">this weekend&#8217;s &#8220;server slam&#8221; aims to convince extraction shooter enjoyers<\/a> on the fence. Ahead of it, Bungie has outlined a frankly impressive effort regarding networking and security features that will be implemented from the get-go.<\/p>\n<p>On 23rd February, the Sony-owned developer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bungie.net\/7\/en\/News\/Article\/marathonsecurity\">shared a meaty blog post<\/a> that dives deep into what players can expect from the game&#8217;s many layers of security and key network features. Needless to say, all of them are crucial to ensuring a smooth and fair online experience, but it&#8217;s often that shooters targeting a competitive crowd don&#8217;t launch in a robust-enough state.<\/p>\n<p>First, Bungie has made Marathon&#8217;s dedicated servers &#8220;fully authoritative on key combat and looting actions,&#8221; meaning any &#8220;correction&#8221; of suspicious behaviour won&#8217;t impact other players and their experience. It&#8217;s combined with &#8220;client-side prediction and rewind&#8221; to ensure actions feel immediate. Moreover, it&#8217;s promised that servers &#8220;carefully track each bullet to its target even with high packet loss.&#8221; Consistent hit registration at launch in an online shooter? Imagine that.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to wall hacks and other cheats that might reveal the position of key items and players, a Fog of War system limits the regions of a map that individual player clients have knowledge of. &#8220;It also helps keep your position hidden from other players&#8217; clients.&#8221; This isn&#8217;t enough to guarantee full protection from hacks alone, but it&#8217;s part of the game&#8217;s arsenal to combat cheaters. On top of that, the security stack was rebuilt &#8220;from the ground up&#8221; for this game, and that will work alongside the familiar BattlEye solution.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s also the matter of one&#8217;s Internet connection going down mid-run. Each online game handles such events differently. In the case of Marathon, &#8220;you can reconnect and continue playing the run&#8221; like in other match-based shooters. &#8220;If connection recovery fails due to an issue with Bungie&#8217;s server or network infrastructure, we will attempt to return the starting gear to all impacted players.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Marathon - encounter\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/marathon-headline_wGf9oIJ.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Marathon - encounter\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"marathon-headline_wGf9oIJ.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Bungie<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Perhaps the biggest shocker comes near the end of the list of features, where Bungie states &#8220;anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned from playing Marathon forever.&#8221; Yeah, no second chances. So, make sure you&#8217;re not running anything suspicious while playing it.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, the veteran online shooter developer, admits that &#8220;product security is never fully solved&#8221; and says it&#8217;ll continue to invest in systems and infrastructure for as long as the game stays alive.<\/p>\n<p>As an extra, we now also have confirmation Xbox players will automatically get <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathon-isnt-just-favouring-playstation-players-with-exclusive-cosmetics-xbox-and-steam-players-promised-bonus-loot-too\">exclusive gun charms<\/a> when the game releases on 5th March:<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed_wrapper\" data-domain=\"twitter.com\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Marathon players on Xbox Series X|S will automatically receive the exclusive Emerald Clutch Weapon Charm and Emerald Catch Weapon Charm when Marathon releases on March 5. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lOpdNfle71\">pic.twitter.com\/lOpdNfle71<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Marathon (@MarathonTheGame) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarathonTheGame\/status\/2026099758838816820?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Excitement around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/marathon\">Marathon<\/a>&#8216;s launch next week seems to finally be a thing, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-come-has-come-for-you-to-judge-marathon-for-yourself-again-theres-a-new-server-slam-running-late-feb-into-march\">this weekend&#8217;s &#8220;server slam&#8221; aims to convince extraction shooter enjoyers<\/a> on the fence. Ahead of it, Bungie has outlined a frankly impressive effort regarding networking and security features that will be implemented from the get-go.<\/p>\n<p>On 23rd February, the Sony-owned developer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bungie.net\/7\/en\/News\/Article\/marathonsecurity\">shared a meaty blog post<\/a> that dives deep into what players can expect from the game&#8217;s many layers of security and key network features. Needless to say, all of them are crucial to ensuring a smooth and fair online experience, but it&#8217;s often that shooters targeting a competitive crowd don&#8217;t launch in a robust-enough state.<\/p>\n<p>First, Bungie has made Marathon&#8217;s dedicated servers &#8220;fully authoritative on key combat and looting actions,&#8221; meaning any &#8220;correction&#8221; of suspicious behaviour won&#8217;t impact other players and their experience. It&#8217;s combined with &#8220;client-side prediction and rewind&#8221; to ensure actions feel immediate. Moreover, it&#8217;s promised that servers &#8220;carefully track each bullet to its target even with high packet loss.&#8221; Consistent hit registration at launch in an online shooter? Imagine that.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to wall hacks and other cheats that might reveal the position of key items and players, a Fog of War system limits the regions of a map that individual player clients have knowledge of. &#8220;It also helps keep your position hidden from other players&#8217; clients.&#8221; This isn&#8217;t enough to guarantee full protection from hacks alone, but it&#8217;s part of the game&#8217;s arsenal to combat cheaters. On top of that, the security stack was rebuilt &#8220;from the ground up&#8221; for this game, and that will work alongside the familiar BattlEye solution.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s also the matter of one&#8217;s Internet connection going down mid-run. Each online game handles such events differently. In the case of Marathon, &#8220;you can reconnect and continue playing the run&#8221; like in other match-based shooters. &#8220;If connection recovery fails due to an issue with Bungie&#8217;s server or network infrastructure, we will attempt to return the starting gear to all impacted players.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Marathon - encounter\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/marathon-headline_wGf9oIJ.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Marathon - encounter\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"marathon-headline_wGf9oIJ.jpg\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Bungie<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Perhaps the biggest shocker comes near the end of the list of features, where Bungie states &#8220;anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned from playing Marathon forever.&#8221; Yeah, no second chances. So, make sure you&#8217;re not running anything suspicious while playing it.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, the veteran online shooter developer, admits that &#8220;product security is never fully solved&#8221; and says it&#8217;ll continue to invest in systems and infrastructure for as long as the game stays alive.<\/p>\n<p>As an extra, we now also have confirmation Xbox players will automatically get <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathon-isnt-just-favouring-playstation-players-with-exclusive-cosmetics-xbox-and-steam-players-promised-bonus-loot-too\">exclusive gun charms<\/a> when the game releases on 5th March:<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed_wrapper\" data-domain=\"twitter.com\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Marathon players on Xbox Series X|S will automatically receive the exclusive Emerald Clutch Weapon Charm and Emerald Catch Weapon Charm when Marathon releases on March 5. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lOpdNfle71\">pic.twitter.com\/lOpdNfle71<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Marathon (@MarathonTheGame) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarathonTheGame\/status\/2026099758838816820?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 24, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Marathon (2025) &#8220;Anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned&#8221; &#8211; Bungie outlines Marathon&#8217;s robust networking and security features Lost in space. Image credit: Bungie News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on Feb. 24, 2026 13 comments Follow Marathon (2025) Excitement around Marathon&#8216;s launch next week seems to finally be a thing, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1789937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1789937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1789937\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1789937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1789937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1789937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}