“It’s like cheating” – new shooter Marathon has sparked a huge PC controversy even before its release

A well-intentioned feature in the game is driving shooter fans crazy. What’s going on?

Cheating in multiplayer shooters is a no-go – all honest souls among us can agree on that. So it’s all the more surprising that Marathon is currently being associated with this very term.

What happened? It’s simple: the new shooter from Destiny developer Bungie has a feature called Aim Magnetism This feature is designed to ensure that console players who aim with a controller also have a chance to get kills.

But on a PC, where a high-precision mouse is used? Not only is the feature unnecessary,for many fansit feels like cheating

Useful help or cheating?

Aim Magnetism in Marathon works just as the name suggests: when shooting, an algorithm running in the background ensures that the bullets still hit the enemy even if you don’t aim precisely.

Does that sound suspiciously like an aimbot to you? No wonder, as the description of how it works is very reminiscent of the cheat programs that have been causing trouble in competitive multiplayer games for decades.

Here you can see what Aim Magnetism looks like in Marathon:

Marathon MnK Aim Assist
byu/skamaz11 inMarathon

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This has no place in a serious PvP shooter

With the above words, Reddit user skamaz11, who posted the video, describes his feelings about Aim Magnetism. And he is not alone in this opinion. Many users agree with him and also express their opinions clearly in the comments:

• It really looks like he’s cheating. That’s incredibly ridiculous. – illnastyone
• When I win the battle, it feels undeserved and unsatisfying, and when I lose, I feel like I’ve been cheated out of the victory. – ech87
• No voice chat and now this? I’ve lost all hype for this game. – PopularButLonely

Want to see another video example to finish off?

How do you expect people to take your game seriously if you just put an aimbot in the game and turned it on by default?

Marathon DOA if they don’t remove this, simple. pic.twitter.com/ri01DSGU9B

— Enders (@EndersFPS) April 23, 2025

In the current alpha phase on PC, Aim Magnetism is enabled by default. You can disable the feature, but you’ll then have a huge disadvantage over your opponents.

However, “currently” is the key word here: given the current excitement surrounding the issue, it cannot be ruled out that the team at Bungie will make further adjustments to the aim assist. Other aspects of the game are also likely to change significantly between now and release thanks to feedback from the community. So the last word on Aim Magnetism is far from being said.