Marathon launches on March 5, 2026, and its faction system is the backbone of long-term progression. Six megacorporations operate on Tau Ceti IV, each offering contracts that reward reputation, gear, and seasonal upgrades. You can work with all six simultaneously — there's no exclusivity penalty — but the order you prioritize them determines which upgrades you carry into the critical middle weeks of a season.
Quick answer: You earn Faction Reputation by completing contracts and successfully extracting from runs with an active contract equipped. Priority contracts are required to increase your actual Faction Rank, while standard and boosted contracts provide repeatable reputation gains.
Unlocking all six factions
You begin Marathon with access to a single faction. The remaining five unlock through Liaison Contracts, which become available after you finish the tutorial and the introductory "Welcome To Tau Ceti" contract. Each Liaison Contract is tied to one specific faction. Complete it once, and that faction is permanently accessible on your account. None of the six factions can be lost or locked out after unlocking.
The six factions at launch are Arachne, CyberAcme, Sekiguchi, MIDA, Traxus, and NuCaloric. Note that the pre-launch server slam does not include Sekiguchi, so only five are playable during that test window.
How contracts generate reputation
Factions issue contracts — objectives you select before each run. You can carry only one active contract per drop, so every deployment is a deliberate choice about which faction you want to advance. Completing the contract's objective and then successfully extracting earns reputation, XP, gear, and progress toward seasonal upgrades. Even extracting with an active contract without fully completing it still grants some reputation, though less than a full completion.
Three contract types exist, each with different risk-reward profiles:
- Standard contracts are repeatable missions with straightforward objectives and baseline rewards. These are the bread and butter of daily reputation grinding.
- Boosted contracts impose more specific conditions but pay out better loot and reputation.
- Priority contracts are one-time missions that must be completed to increase your Faction Rank. They also carry the most narrative significance, revealing story beats about each corporation's agenda on Tau Ceti IV.
The distinction between reputation and rank matters. Reputation accumulates passively through any contract work and successful extractions. Rank, however, only advances when you clear the priority contracts that gate each new tier. Higher rank unlocks superior seasonal upgrades, expanded vault space, starting loadout options, and access to black-market gear — all of which still cost your own in-game resources to purchase.
Seasonal resets and why early faction choices matter
Faction upgrades in Marathon are seasonal. They reset at the start of each new season and must be rebuilt from scratch. Think of it like Destiny 2's Seasonal Artifact system, but broader in scope and more resource-intensive. Once you unlock an upgrade within a season, it applies to every run for the remainder of that season, covering stat boosts, cooldown reductions, mobility perks, and more.
Because rebuilding takes real time and resources, the faction you push first each season shapes your entire early-game experience. Prioritizing one faction doesn't lock you out of others — it just determines which tools you have access to during the weeks when everyone else is still gearing up.
All six factions and what they reward
| Faction | Contract Focus | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Arachne | Hunting and killing other Runners | PvP aggression, squad play, gunfight dominance |
| CyberAcme | Tech interactions, respawn systems, shell management | Survivability, quality-of-life, broad utility |
| Sekiguchi | Survival tasks, endurance zones, attrition objectives | Tank builds, health regen, long-term seasonal scaling |
| MIDA | Sabotage, destruction, explosives, malware deployment | Disruption, indirect pressure, anti-infrastructure |
| Traxus | Salvaging valuables, tracking weapons and mods | Loot-focused play, economy upgrades, early power scaling |
| NuCaloric | Zone control, resource node interactions | Macro positioning, late-game compounding bonuses |
Arachne
Arachne is a death cult obsessed with kill pressure. Its contracts require you to actively hunt and eliminate other Runners, which means passive looting runs won't move the reputation needle. The upgrade tree leans heavily into damage output, combat uptime bonuses, and kill-focused stat boosts. Coordinated squads benefit most here, since consistent kills are easier to produce with teammates. Pair Arachne progression with a Runner Shell that can sustain extended firefights. Upgrades include melee damage bonuses (the "Hard Strike" line, maxing at rank 22), the "Cutthroat" finisher siphon that recharges shields after finishing a downed Runner, and "Leech" at rank 28, which restores health on knife attacks.
CyberAcme
CyberAcme is the corporation behind the Onboard Navigation Intelligence (ONI) system installed in every Runner Shell. Its contracts center on tech interactions, respawn mechanics, and shell management rather than combat kills. The rewards are survivability perks and quality-of-life buffs that apply broadly across playstyles. For new players, CyberAcme is the most forgiving starting faction — its contracts don't demand high mechanical skill, and the upgrades reduce friction on every subsequent run regardless of build.
Sekiguchi
Sekiguchi Genetics created the biomata Runner Shells. Its contracts reward outlasting rather than outgunning — survival tasks, enduring dangerous zones, and attrition-based objectives. The upgrade tree provides health upgrades, resistances, and regeneration-style perks that compound over time. Sekiguchi scales exceptionally well deep into a season, making it one of the strongest long-term investments if you commit early. Players who prefer positioning over mechanical dueling will find this tree aligns tightly with their playstyle.
MIDA
Originally a political movement turned terrorist organization from the classic Marathon trilogy, MIDA wants the UESC and its corporate allies burned to the ground. Contracts involve destroying assets, deploying malware, and using explosives. You don't need to win gunfights — you need to destabilize areas and force other Runners into worse positions. The upgrade tree rewards explosive damage bonuses and disruption-focused perks. The "Flex Matrix" upgrade, available at MIDA rank 16, grants up to +60 agility, increasing movement speed and jump height. The "Graceful" leg piece adds agility, melee damage, and foul resistance, and the "Survivor" kits (starting at rank 6) provide self-repair speed, revive speed, and firewall bonuses.
Traxus
Traxus OffWorld Industries is described as the most powerful corporation in human history. Through its agent Vulcan, you'll salvage valuables, track specific weapons and mods, and disrupt UESC supply lines. These contracts map cleanly onto standard extraction shooter behavior — loot, extract, repeat — making early progression feel natural. The upgrade tree rewards economy-focused play with loot access and power-scaling gear. Traxus also offers armory purchases for specific weapons like the Bully SMG and M77 assault rifle, plus rotating blue-rarity mods in the daily store. That said, dedicated runners will eventually find better mods in the field, so Traxus is strongest as an early-season accelerant rather than a late-game priority.
NuCaloric
NuCaloric Agricultural is the food and energy megacorp that kept the Tau Ceti colony running. Its contracts focus on zone control, resource node interactions, and long-term resource network objectives. The rewards are late-game scaling upgrades and compounding seasonal bonuses that grow more powerful over time. NuCaloric is not built for early aggression — its power builds gradually through map control, making it most effective for players who think across an entire season rather than optimizing individual runs. Reaching NuCaloric rank 12 unlocks self-revives for purchase in the armory, and the "Recovery" line (maxing at rank 29) increases how quickly consumables restore health and shields.
Recommended faction leveling order for a fast start
There's no single correct path, but a strong opening strategy focuses on movement and survivability upgrades first, since those benefit every build and every run.
Step 1: Push your first faction (commonly referred to as "Scia" in the upgrade UI) to rank 26 to max out the "Heat Sink" upgrade. Heat capacity determines how many movement actions — sprinting, sliding — you can perform before overheating. At max rank, Heat Sink grants +60 heat capacity. Also, pick up "Quick Vent" along the way, which accelerates heat recovery after movement actions.
Step 2: Switch to MIDA and reach rank 16 to unlock "Flex Matrix" at level 3. This provides +60 agility, directly increasing movement speed and jump height. In an extraction shooter where repositioning wins fights, this is one of the highest-value upgrades in the game.
Step 3: Move to Sekiguchi and work toward rank 28. The "Tac Amp" and "Prime Amp" upgrades reduce cooldowns on your tactical and prime abilities by up to +60 each, letting you use Runner Shell abilities far more frequently. The "Head Start" perk at rank 14 completely fills your tactical ability charge at the start of a run, eliminating the initial cooldown window. The VIP-rank "Primed" perk does the same for your prime ability.
Step 4: Circle back to NuCaloric for the self-revive unlock at rank 12 and the Recovery line for faster consumable healing. Then fill in Arachne's melee and PvP upgrades, and Traxus's weapon purchases, as your playstyle demands.
How to know your reputation is working
After extracting from a run with an active contract, you'll see a reputation gain summary on the post-match screen. Your current rank and progress toward the next rank are visible in each faction's menu. When you complete a priority contract, the rank-up is immediate and accompanied by a notification unlocking new purchasable upgrades in that faction's store. If you extract but don't see reputation gains, confirm you had an active contract equipped before the run — dropping in without one means the run doesn't count toward any faction.
Marathon launches March 5, 2026, on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S with full cross-play and cross-save. The Standard Edition is $39.99, and the Deluxe Edition is $59.99. Seven Runner Shells are available at launch, and cores and implants let you customize each one well beyond its default archetype. Starting with CyberAcme or Traxus while experimenting with a Vandal or Thief shell gives the broadest foundation for learning both the faction system and Runner buildcrafting at the same time.