'Anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned from playing Marathon forever': Bungie's doubling down on security following Arc Raiders' recent foibles

‘Anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned from playing Marathon forever’: Bungie’s doubling down on security following Arc Raiders’ recent foibles | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show PC Gamer Clips Software Codes Coupons Movies & TV Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Third Person Shooter Congrats, you played yourself, Arc Raiders’ machines aren’t actually learning: ‘That’s just the way we author them’ Third Person Shooter Embark’s plans to rework Arc Raiders’ account-wiping Expeditions: ‘We didn’t have time to shift the system to what we intend to do next’ Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders design director says players ‘never worked together’ in testing, but the emergence of care bear lobbies ‘encourages us to lean toward giving opportunities to have friendly interactions’ Third Person Shooter Embark admits Arc Raiders’ bosses are dying too fast because ‘they’re not intended for the full server to go up against’ and ‘we gave players too effective abilities’ FPS As Destiny 2’s player count continues to tank, Bungie announces that the next major update is delayed until June and getting a new name Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders’ matchmaking isn’t ‘binary’, says design lead: ‘There’s no such thing as a friendly lobby or an aggressive lobby’ Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders full interview: ‘Nobody whatsoever thought we’d have this many players’ Third Person Shooter Saving blueprints after an Expedition isn’t ‘off the table’, says Arc Raiders’ director, but Embark is also looking at alternatives Sim Easy Anti-Cheat is coming to Rocket League, but Psyonix promises not to get all Fortnite with it and hose your Steam Deck and Linux installs Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders’ wall-breaking exploits took so long to fix because they were ‘intrinsic to the way the game is built’: ‘Those things are very risky to patch rapidly’ Third Person Shooter Let’s settle this: Should Arc Raiders add a PvE mode? Third Person Shooter Duck dupe criminals nabbed: Embark is dishing out warnings and even ban hammers for miscreants abusing recent duplication glitches in Arc Raiders FPS Marathon: Everything we know about Bungie’s sci-fi extraction shooter Third Person Shooter Arc Raiders’ contentious ‘aggression-based matchmaking’ isn’t just smart, but absolutely necessary FPS The Marathon art theft debacle has been ‘resolved to my satisfaction,’ according to the artist Bungie stole from PopularNEW: PC Gamer Clips!Arc RaidersBest PC gearFalloutGame Quizzes Games FPS Marathon ‘Anyone found to be cheating will be permabanned from playing Marathon forever’: Bungie’s doubling down on security following Arc Raiders’ recent foibles News By Rory Norris published 23 February 2026 Don’t go running to Bungie support to save you. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Bungie) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday GamesRadar+ Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you’re going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. 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From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter As we’ve learned from the likes of Arc Raiders as of late, cheating and exploits are absolutely game-breaking in an extraction shooter. The recent item duplication glitch forced Embark to dish out warnings and bans after it broke the in-game economy, though there have been fears over big-name content creators getting preferential treatment.Bungie has evidently been taking notes in the background, as it has just released a hefty blog on how it will handle cheating and networking issues in Marathon. The answer? It’s not going easy on these issues or those who go out of their way to ruin the game for others.”We want you to know your deaths are due to your own mistakes or enemy outplays—not because your run was compromised by network issues, cheaters, or the hardware hosting your connection to the world,” the blog reads. “No network or security model can guarantee perfection”, but it’s “committed to protecting the Marathon competitive experience.” Related articles Arc Raiders is finally dishing out bans for cheaters, but some players think the punishment is too lenient: ‘Anyone with cheats active just gets non-stop arc spawning on them’ Duck dupe criminals nabbed: Embark is dishing out warnings and even ban hammers for miscreants abusing recent duplication glitches in Arc Raiders Arc Raiders has a cheater problem, but Embarks says ‘significant changes’ are coming to detection and ban systems So here’s a rundown of the basics:Marathon uses dedicated servers, with server-side authority over key combat and looting ac