Despite its troubled path to a delayed launch, Marathon looks like it may have turned a corner with its new release date now only six weeks away. There are still teething problems to take care of ahead of launch, however, such as Destiny 2 installing on PC when people place their Marathon pre-orders.
Marathon won’t be released until March 5, which is why some of you might have been surprised to see something start downloading immediately if you pre-ordered the game on Steam this week. No, you weren’t getting the game early, nor does your pre-order come with a secret beta test. In fact, the game being installed when you placed your pre-order had nothing to do with Marathon at all.
Pre-Ordering Marathon Triggered A Destiny 2 Download
The game being installed on Steam when placing a pre-order for Marathon was Bungie’s last game, Destiny 2. The studio has addressed the bizarre bug in a post on Twitter, noting that it has been fixed. “We’ve resolved an issue where Destiny 2 would begin installing after pre-ordering Marathon on Steam,” the post on Marathon’s official account reads.
It’s still unclear whether the pre-order problem only affected those who already own Destiny 2 and just didn’t have it installed when they placed their Marathon pre-order, or if even those who don’t own the Destiny sequel were bequeathed with a free copy of the game that they didn’t ask for. Either way, the issue has ushered in an influx of unwanted jokes at the expense of Bungie and Destiny 2.
Marathon Is The Latest Release To Have A Confusing Collector’s Edition That Doesn’t Include The Actual Game
Is suggesting a game’s collector’s edition include the game really that outlandish?
Beware The Unwanted Destiny 2 “Virus”
If you search the words Destiny and Marathon on social media, you’ll be greeted by a sea of people making the same “Don’t pre-order Marathon on Steam, it downloads a virus onto your PC called Destiny 2” joke, which, to be fair, is kind of funny. Some are less amused and actually believe it was a ploy to boost Destiny 2’s dwindling numbers while people await Marathon’s arrival.
As for how something like this can happen accidentally, PC Gamer has an interesting theory. There’s a Destiny 2: Marathon Pack bundle that you get for pre-ordering the upcoming Bungie game. The pack unlocks Marathon-themed cosmetic items that can be used in Destiny 2. It’s possible that, somehow, a mix-up made Steam think you also get a copy of the game to go with your Destiny 2 cosmetics with your Marathon pre-order.
It seems likely that a lot of people were affected by this terrible bug before Bungie stepped in with a fix. Within hours of pre-orders going live, Marathon had cracked the top ten best-selling games on Steam. A positive sign for a game that many have written off before they’ve even had the opportunity to play it.
- Released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen / Blood, Violence, Users Interact
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
