In the latest alpha test of Bungie’s extraction shooter Marathon, a controversial feature has stirred heated debate: aim assist for mouse and keyboard players. And none other than legendary FPS pro and Twitch streamer Michael “shroud” Grzesiek is calling it out—labeling the mechanic an aimbot and urging Bungie to remove it.
🧲 Mouse Aim Assist in Marathon—How It Works
During the closed alpha on April 23, 2025, players noticed their crosshairs snapping magnetically to targets, even when using a mouse. The feature seems designed to give PC players an easier time tracking moving enemies, similar to traditional controller aim assist—but now, that’s available across the board.
This tweak is presumably an attempt to level the playing field between console and PC users for crossplay. However, the result has been polarizing.
🎙️ Shroud’s Reaction: “Remove This Crap”
Initially joking, “We deserve this. We deserve [a] aimbot,” Shroud quickly made it clear on-stream that he was not in support of the mechanic:
“They definitely just have to remove this mouse-aim-assist crap. I understand that they want to balance consoles and PC and stuff, for crossplay, but it just ruins the PC part of the game.”
Shroud emphasized that PC players pride themselves on precision and skill, and forcing artificial assistance undermines that experience. His concern? That the game is trying too hard to create parity and, in the process, is alienating the very group it’s meant to support.
⚖️ Skill vs. Balance: The Bigger Debate
This controversy reignites the long-standing debate in FPS communities: Should mouse & keyboard aim always be pure skill-based, or is there room for assistive features in the name of accessibility and fairness in crossplay?
With Marathon set to release on September 23, 2025, Bungie now faces growing pressure to rethink or at least refine the aim assist system before launch.
💭 What do you think? Should aim assist stay exclusive to controllers, or is it time for PC gamers to embrace it too?
