Sony's Horizon Hunters playtest overlaps Bungie's Marathon server slam

Sony announced that a small-scale closed playtest for Horizon Hunters Gathering will run from February 27 to March 1, directly overlapping the Marathon server slam, which begins on February 26. The playtest will let selected players try Sun, Ram, or Axle across two modes: Machine Incursion, a wave-based survival mode, and Cauldron Descent, a multi-stage dungeon featuring ever-changing challenges.

The timing is notable because the Hunters test is a mid-development closed playtest meant to help "shape development, as many game systems are still evolving," while Marathon is an open-to-all server stress test immediately ahead of launch. Even with limited tester slots and potentially small audience crossover, the overlap looks awkward and could short-change one or both games.

In brief: Marathon is playable from February 26 on Steam for anyone who downloads the client.

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