Players solve first stage of Marathon Cryo Archive ARG, uncover eerie footage

Bungie has been hyping Marathon's post-launch Cryo Archives map, promising intense encounters and puzzle-solving, but it didn't simply unlock on a set roadmap date. Instead the studio deployed an ARG that has pushed players toward collective problem-solving rather than waiting for a release.

It began when small wall terminals across the Perimeter map started powering on. Activating them in certain orders produced audio from the rogue AI Durandal and delivered ciphers that opened the Cryoarchives Systems website, which initially showed a collection of broken video feeds from aboard the Marathon ship.

The ARG community mobilised to clean up those feeds, coordinating hordes of players to interact with Perimeter terminals in specific orders within 15-minute intervals. That effort completed the first stage and unlocked stable camera feeds, including a Control Room clip where a ghostly figure appears to pass beneath a far-right walkway about six seconds in.

marathon, cryo archives, arg, bungie, durandal, perimeter map, wall terminals, ciphers, broken feeds, control room