A lot of the discussion around Marathon has been its emphasis on PvP. It couldn’t be more polar opposite to Arc Raiders, where most matches feel like friendly walks in the park as everyone puts down their weapons and starts collecting mushrooms, toasters, and whatever else in unison. If you see another player on Tau Ceti, though, it’s shoot first, ask questions later.

Well, that was the thinking pre-release, at least. In just a few matches since launch, I’ve already:

• Made friends with a fellow Rook (albeit we teamed up to kill another player)
• Had a friendly chat with a player I beat in a 1v1 (again, ignore the tinge of violence)
• Extracted with an enemy group (they tried to kill me, but I was just too fast)

Honestly, I thought these small feats alone were impossible. But then I came across Reddit user Punk Saint’s post in which almost their whole lobby chose peace and extracted together. And yes, there’s proof—I wouldn’t have believed it otherwise. “People just kept joining and coming over, [but] nobody shot anyone,” they explain.

Just had a game where the whole map was friendly and we all extracted together from r/Marathon

That many players with their guard down near an extract? I’m surprised no one attempted to murder everyone with a well-placed grenade. I think I would have tested what I could get away with.

While Marathon is noticeably more violent and PvP-focused than Arc Raiders, perhaps the ‘make love, not war’ sentiment is starting to spread somewhat. Right now, we’re all out here just trying to complete some quests, no? When I’m looking for a terminal or specific item for a contract, I’m not bringing in my best guns and whatnot, and I’m not going out of my way to cause trouble for myself. In other words, avoiding bloodshed and perhaps even working together is often the winning strategy.

As players complete the available contracts and become more focused on getting and holding onto high-end gear, it’ll be interesting to see whether the little friendliness we’re seeing now disappears.