Bungie has officially announced that Marathon Ranked mode is finally going live this weekend. It has offered an overview of how the ranked mode will work and what will be at stake for players looking to climb up the ladder. The whole process is quite complicated as Marathon is an extraction shooter game. It has a minimum Runner level and gear loadout value requirement just to be eligible for ranked mode. Here are all the details that we know about the Marathon Ranked mode so far.
When Will Marathon Ranked Mode Release?
Marathon Ranked mode will go live for the first time on March 21, 2026, at 10 AM PT. It will be available for the weekend and will end on March 24 at 10 AM PT. This is because Bungie says the Ranked mode is in beta testing for Season 1. The team is seeking to gather significant user feedback and improve the mode. The mode will be available only on weekends, at least for now.
Marathon Ranked Mode Eligibility
Players must reach at least Runner level 25 to get access to the Marathon Ranked mode queue. You will also need to fulfill the Gear Ante requirement to play this mode. Gear Ante is the minimum value your equipped gear (in credits) should have.
Low Stake Queue requires a minimum of 3,000 Gear Ante and Bronze Holotag tier. You will need at least 10,000 Gear Ante and Platinum Holotag tier for High Stake Queue. Bungie says it will offer only the Low Stake Queue in ranked mode during the first week. This is said to help players prepare for High Stake Queue.
Marathon Ranked Mode: How Does it Work?
The first thing that you need to understand about Marathon Ranked mode is Holotags. You must have a Holotag in your backpack before you can enter a ranked mode queue. A Bronze, Silver, or Gold Holotag tier is required for Low Stake queues. Platinum, Diamond, and Pinnacle Holotag tiers are required for High Stake queues. A Holotag tier up to your current rank can either be purchased or looted from opponents.
Bungie says each player will earn a score based on their performance in a run. They will also have a score target based on their Hologram tier, which they need to meet to earn Ranked Points (RP). These RPs are required to climb up ranks: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Pinnacle. Each rank further has three tiers (like Bronze 3, Bronze 2, and Bronze 1) that you need to climb.
The good news is that your highest rank during the season will be used to determine your Marathon Ranked mode rewards at the end of the season. This is done to ensure that players do not stop playing because of the fear of dropping to a lower tier. Players will also unlock new gear and room keys to randomly selected zones for reaching a new rank.
Here is the official explanation of how the scoring system works:
- You have a score target set by your team’s Holotag values
- Loot valuable items to get score
- Once you reach your score target, exfil to get Rated Points
- If you exfil before you hit your target, you don’t get Rated Points
- If you die, you lose Rated Points based on your team’s Holotag values
- You can get bonus Rated Points, aka overperformance capacity, by looting enemy players’ Holotags or collecting Tag Chips from UESC and map events
The whole process is a bit more complicated than it appears here. You can check every fine detail here.
