Bungie Says Marathon Cheaters Will Be Permabanned Forever With No Second Chances, But Appeals Will Exist for False Flags
Bungie is setting an aggressive tone ahead of Marathon’s launch, confirming that anyone caught cheating will face a permanent ban with no second chances. The stance was detailed in a new security focused developer post that breaks down how Marathon handles networking, match integrity, and enforcement, positioning anti cheat policy as a core pillar of the PvEvP extraction shooter’s live ecosystem from day 1.
In the official update, Bungie states that anyone found to be cheating will be permanently banned from playing Marathon forever, with no second chances. The wording is not subtle, and it is reinforced more than once throughout the post, including a closing section that also extends consequences to people developing cheats.
Bungie also highlighted the design and infrastructure side of the equation. Marathon is built around dedicated servers, and the studio calls out systems like Fog of War as a gameplay layer intended to reduce the effectiveness of wall hack style information advantages. The post also explains how the game handles disconnect scenarios, which is a practical concern for an extraction format where a single bad moment can define an entire run. Taken together, Bungie is trying to communicate that security is not only about punishment, but also about reducing the surface area where cheats can dominate moment to moment play.
To amplify the message, the official Marathon account shared the headline policy across social media, reiterating the permanent ban posture and linking back to the deeper blog breakdown.
We’re investing in networking and security for Marathon:
— Marathon (@MarathonTheGame) February 23, 2026
🖥️Dedicated servers
🤖Server-side authority over key actions to reduce exploits
😶🌫️Fog of War to limit wall hacks and loot revealers
⛓️💥Disconnect recovery
🛑No second chances
Learn more: https://t.co/CBTJ1wGDVi pic.twitter.com/FT2fXQgyIp
At the same time, Bungie added an important qualifier that keeps the policy grounded in reality. No detection stack is perfect, so the studio says Marathon will include an appeals system to monitor for any issues in detection. That matters because permabans are only sustainable for community trust if legitimate players have a path to challenge incorrect enforcement, especially during the chaos of launch week when new systems are being stress tested at scale.
The timing is intentional. Marathon launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on 2026-03-05, and Bungie is clearly trying to lock in confidence before the player population spikes. The studio also wants players to test the waters before committing to the 40$ price tag, confirming an open preview server slam test begins 2026-02-26. For an extraction shooter, early integrity messaging is not just a nice to have. It is a retention strategy. If players believe the first week is compromised, the drop off curve can become brutal and hard to reverse.
Bungie’s approach is a high risk, high reward posture. If enforcement is fast and accurate, the policy can become a brand asset and a competitive differentiator. If false positives become frequent or slow to resolve, the same policy can turn into a trust liability. The real KPI will not be the toughness of the headline, but the consistency of detection, the speed of appeals, and whether legit players feel protected enough to keep queuing.
Do you prefer a strict permaban policy for cheaters, or do you think temporary bans and escalating penalties are a better long term approach for live shooters?
