A Russian Marathon player used a regional workaround to access the extraction shooter and then received a temporary ban after launch. Bungie support later told him the restriction came from “a network connection issue,” not his location or how he bought the game.
| What you notice | What it might mean | Possible risk level* |
|---|---|---|
| Occasional rubber‑banding | Short packet loss or minor routing blips | Low |
| Very high ping every match | Long distance to server, bad routing | Medium |
| Frequent disconnects or timeouts | Security tools or unstable ISP route | Medium–High |
| Rapid reconnect attempts | Looks like abuse or severe instability | High |
IXBT.games first covered the story and highlighted how sanctions, VPN‑style access, and strict network protections collide for Russian players who try to join Marathon on PC via Steam. In this case, the player enjoyed several hours on release day, then lost access, appealed, and got a reply that told him to improve his internet connection while the restriction runs its course.
What happened to the Russian Marathon player?
IXBT.games reports that the player, known as MaSsS, launched Marathon on release day from Russia through Steam and played about three hours with friends. He says everything worked fine during that session, apart from a few brief network hiccups.
The next day, he opened Steam and saw a notification about his account that said Marathon access had been fully restricted. When he tried to start the game, the client showed a black screen with a message along the lines of “not so fast, you have been blocked.”
Community members quickly suggested that Bungie had punished him for playing from Russia or using a workaround. To get a clear answer, he contacted Bungie support and asked why the restriction hit his account.
Bungie’s explanation: network connection issues
In its reply, Bungie support referenced his ticket as support request #445323 and framed the issue around his network. The message said the restriction came “due to a network connection issue,” and that the team had reviewed the case and decided to keep the remaining restriction time unchanged.
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Support also advised him to use this time to improve his internet connection, not to wait for an early unban. That line suggests that Marathon’s protection system flagged how his connection behaved during matches.
The player believes the system treated his ping spikes and packet loss as deliberate latency manipulation. He insists that he did not try to abuse the network and that those spikes actually made his matches harder, not easier.
Bungie has not published any detailed rules for Marathon’s anti‑cheat and network checks. We do not know exact thresholds for ping, packet loss, or disconnects, and we only have the wording from this support email: “network connection issue” and “temporary restriction.”
Expert insight: modern shooters often lean on strict network rules to catch lag‑switching and ping abuse. Those same rules can catch players on unstable routes, especially when they rely on non‑standard paths or long international routes to reach the servers.
How are Russian players accessing Marathon?
IXBT.games notes that Marathon is not officially sold in Russia. Despite that, some players still buy Steam keys through third‑party markets or other region tricks and then run the game from Russian IPs.
Why is the Marathon not available in Russia?
byu/No_Building_5946 inMarathon
At the same time, other reports around the PC tests and launch show wider access problems:
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Russian players and some Western users hit the error code “w:8:80090305” and failed to log in.
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IXBT.games links many of those cases to Kaspersky antivirus, which interferes with Marathon’s connection.
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Players who shut down Kaspersky or add Marathon to exceptions often restore access.
These pieces line up with what many players already expect in 2026. Some games no longer sell directly in Russia, but players can still reach servers through indirect paths, at the cost of more fragile routes and a higher chance of odd error codes.
What’s confirmed and what is not?
Because this case touches sanctions, region access, and anti‑cheat, it helps to separate confirmed facts from speculation.
Confirmed details
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Marathon does not sell officially in Russia, but some Russian players obtained Steam versions and connected from Russian territory.
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Player “MaSsS” played several hours on day one, then saw a Steam notification about a restriction on his account and a black‑screen block when launching Marathon.
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Bungie support told him the restriction came from “a network connection issue” and wrote that the team would not change the remaining time of his temporary restriction.
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Support suggested he use this period to improve his internet connection.
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He confirms that he saw packet loss and rubber‑banding during matches and believes the system misread that as abuse.
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Separate IXBT reporting connects error “w:8:80090305” to conflicts with Kaspersky antivirus and shows that disabling or adjusting it often fixes the problem for affected players.
Not confirmed
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That Bungie banned him because he comes from Russia or because he bypassed sanctions; Bungie only cites a network connection issue.
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Exact internal values for ping, packet loss, or disconnects that cause a ban or temporary lock.
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A fully detailed, official region policy for Marathon that covers every Russian or CIS player’s experience; most information here comes from user reports and IXBT coverage, not a long public policy from Bungie.
What this means if you play from a restricted region
If you play from a region where Marathon does not sell directly and you rely on workarounds, this case shows a few risks.
First, your path to the server often looks messy. Extra hops, longer distances, and VPNs can add latency and packet loss. A strict protection system might treat that behavior as suspicious when it sees extreme spikes.
Second, local security tools can quietly break the connection. In the Kaspersky example, the antivirus caused errors and prevented normal logins. If your antivirus kills parts of the traffic, the game sees disconnects and packet drops and may treat that as abnormal behavior.
Third, appeals do not always reverse network‑based restrictions. Bungie reviewed this case and still kept the temporary restriction in place. The support team put the focus back on the player’s connection instead of making an exception.
How to lower your risk of a network‑based restriction
There is no official “safe list” from Bungie, but you can still reduce obvious network problems.
Quick connection tips
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Use a wired Ethernet connection instead of Wi‑Fi whenever you can.
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Close downloads, streams, and other heavy apps while you play.
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Check your antivirus and firewall, and add Marathon to the allowed list; Kaspersky users may need to fully exit it or set exceptions.
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Avoid generic VPNs for Marathon unless you have no other choice, because they often add latency and jitter.
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If you need a network tool, use a gaming route optimizer rather than a region‑spoofing VPN, since these tools focus on cleaner paths instead of hiding your location.
