Bungie’s finally throwing a bone to the players who signed up for extraction but got stuck in endless sweaty lobbies instead. Starting with Season 2 in June, Marathon’s getting experimental modes that dial back the PvP grind—one with light PvP sprinkled in at the front of the season, then a straight PvE-only crew objective mode later on. The plan stretches into Seasons 3 through 5 with bigger map updates, new Runner shells like the defensive Sentinel, alien-heavy zones with mind-warping debuffs, and even a pure PvP test queue down the line. It’s a clear play to keep the game from bleeding players after the launch dip and that big Sony write-down.

Community chatter’s mixed but hopeful—Destiny fans are hyped for something they can actually chill in without getting third-partied every run, while hardcore PvPers are already calling it a waste that’ll water down the extraction loop. X threads are blowing up with folks begging for better progression fixes and matchmaking so solos don’t get wrecked, and Reddit’s full of stories about folks hitting 160 hours solo and still feeling behind the squads. Bungie’s quoting their own plan straight: “The second experimental mode will be a PvE-only mode that’s focused on crews being tasked with completing objectives together and making some progress across matches.”

This ain’t a full pivot, but it’s the smartest move they’ve made since launch—give the casuals their chill survival vibes so the sweats can stay sweaty without dragging the whole population down. If they actually deliver faster faction progression and better onboarding in Season 2, we might see real numbers again. Otherwise it’s just another live-service band-aid on a game that’s still figuring out if it wants to be Destiny-lite or pure Tarkov hell.