Marathon is the big-time extraction shooter in 2026, looking to knock others off their perch, but the existence (or lack of) Solo, Duo, Trio, and Quad matchmaking could be a big positive or negative.
You could say that Marathon‘s success could bungie (pun intended), depending on how matchmaking goes. The game is designed with a particular team size in mind, but this might be off-putting to certain players or groups. All will be explained.
Can You Queue For Duos in Marathon?
Marathon does not have a Duo queue option, meaning you cannot specifically look and enter a match with just two players—depending on how your matchmaking goes.
In short, the only conceivable way for you and a friend to enter a game of Marathon together is to party up and hope that a third player is not put on your team for whatever reason.
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This isn’t a big surprise, because extraction shooter fans will likely remember that the ever-popular ARC Raiders also didn’t launch with a dedicated Duos matchmaking playlist option.
Duos wasn’t present during the Marathon Server Slam Playtest, so the option will either be made available for launch or Bungie will add it in after launch as a fresh content option.
One thing’s almost for sure: If you ask for Duos, it will come.
All Marathon Matchmaking Options, Explained
Marathon has two default matchmaking options for you to trigger: Solos and Trios.
If you choose your matchmaking to feature ‘No Fill,’ then no other human players will be added to your squad, and this is essentially Solos, without explicitly labeling it as that.
As we’ve established, there is no Duos playlist option whatsoever. Marathon’s default squad number is three, and the basis of the gameplay revolves around a three-man squad—so don’t see Trios leaving the matchmaking settings ever.
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Finally, there is no Quads option as you physically cannot have four players in a team. Once again, this might be a thing well after the game’s main launch in March 2026, but there is no Quad setting for the time being.
Extraction shooters all have their own nuances. In this instance, it feels like Marathon is following in ARC Raiders’ launch boots. Does a lack of dedicated Duos or Quads put you off playing? Do you think Bungie will add one or more of these options in the future?
Before you dive into another raid, share your matchmaking opinions, complaints, and compliments through the Insider Gaming Discord, where you can talk about Marathon in general.
Make sure you check out ARC Raiders’ viewer count hitting new lows as Marathon started running.
