Marathon’s season two update has done little to move the needle in the way that Bungie probably needs, but next week’s update has what a lot of players have been asking for.

The extraction shooter’s season two midseason 1.1.5 update arrives on July 21, and with it comes the Vault Breaker experimental PvE-only mode. Since the game launched (and even before it), this has been a big request for players who may enjoy the title’s aesthetic and gunplay, but not having to deal with sweaty opponents in PvP.

“Vault Breaker offers a roguelite PvE experience inside Cryo Archive, where you’ll take on progressively tougher Vaults across multiple runs,” Bungie explained in a blog post today. “You’ll acquire Vault Data to upgrade your special Sponsored Kit (more details below), or spend that progress on gear in the new Vault Breaker Armory that features weapons, items, and more that you can bring back to your other adventures across Tau Ceti.”

This isn’t the final evolution of PvE in Marathon, however. Far from it, but this mode will help shape the future. Bungie explained that “all items and gear found in-run are restricted from exfil except event currency and rewards will only be available during the event period,” so it will be “best to prioritize room for Vault Data and of course, items essential for you to make it to exfil.”

Bungie said that it’s “excited for you all to jump in and check it out, and we can’t wait to gather up all of your feedback and data as we continue to work towards our full PvE mode, arriving in Season 3.”

And therein lies the rub: Marathon’s full-fledged PvE-only mode will be coming in September. But is it too late? By that time, gamers will have plenty of new options to choose from as the release calendar heads towards the end of 2027, including Call of Duty and its extraction mode DMZ, and of course, Grand Theft Auto 6 in November.

The huge fear is that this mode is “too little, too late,” but I can’t help but feel for the folks at Bungie who have been left to work on Marathon after a massive wave of layoffs and the shuttering of Destiny 2. I can only imagine that the studio has been working incredibly hard to make this mode happen over recent months, and I hope that it invites new players to check out the game.