A new leak from Marathon‘s NDA‑ed Closed Technical Test shows an updated three‑minute intro cinematic, revealing the story’s origins and some other very interesting teasers.
Bungie’s upcoming sci-fi extraction shooter, Marathon, has been quietly undergoing closed testing for several months now. Earlier this month, the studio officially kicked off its Closed Technical Test, running from October 22 to 29 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
This invite-only test gave players an early look at a much more polished version of the game, featuring three maps, five playable Runners (classes), a solo queue option, and proximity voice chat. It also showcased faster combat pacing and noticeable visual upgrades compared to the Closed Alpha back in April.
The test ran under a strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA), with Bungie cracking down on leaks harder than ever. Players who shared screenshots, clips, or even minor gameplay details online received DMCA strikes within hours.
Despite the tight lockdown, it looks like one major piece of content has slipped through the cracks, and it’s a big one.
New 3‑Minute Marathon Intro Cinematic Leaks Online
The video was uploaded on October 23rd by a YouTube account named Shaun Weber, and it’s an extended version of the intro cinematic that appeared in the game’s April 2025 Closed Alpha. That old version was nearly two minutes long. This new one runs a little more than three minutes and offers a much deeper look at the story and universe of Marathon.
The cinematic opens like a broadcast from the past, describing the day the UESC Marathon, an “enormous” colony ship, set off from the solar system toward Tau Ceti to establish humanity’s first deep-space colony. “It is a historic day across the solar system,” the narrator says.
The broadcast cuts to emergency chatter: the UESC loses contact with the ship, even as decades pass with no word. A century later, a transmission is finally received, a distress signal. The message contains a haunting line that fans of Bungie’s original ‘90s Marathon trilogy will recognize instantly: “Somewhere in the heavens, they are waiting.”
The cinematic also features quick flashes of a distorted AI-like face appearing throughout the video. In the latter half, there’s also a short stretch of new dialogue that wasn’t in the earlier Alpha version.
You can read the full story briefing heard in the cinematic below, followed by a few screenshots we pulled from the leaked video.
“It is a historic day across the solar system. The enormous UESC Marathon colony ship sets out for the Tau Ceti star system to establish a new home for humanity, and with it, infinite possibilities.
“The people of Earth and Mars are watching. Everyone is watching. Breaking news: contact has been lost with the Marathon colony ship. Official messaging from the UESC presents that nothing is amiss. People just want to know what happened. What is the UESC doing about it?
“Still no answers. Shocking news today: after losing contact with the Marathon colony nearly 100 years ago, after decades of citizens demanding answers, a message has finally been received from the UESC Marathon.
“A distress call. An invitation. But the message has been leaked. It reads:
“‘Somewhere in the heavens, they are waiting.‘”
Given how quickly Bungie has taken action on previous leaks, it’s likely only a matter of time before this video disappears, but for now, you can watch the leaked cinematic below.
And in case you missed it, The Game Post reported that Red Dead Redemption 2’s Roger Clark, the voice of Arthur Morgan, plays a character named General Davic Reed in Marathon.
What do you think about the new extended intro cinematic for Marathon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
