Bungie Is Killing What Works to Save What Flopped

Business

22 May 2026 08:13

According to rumors, Bungie is about to start another layoff round. It looks like Sony is winding down its proven money-maker (Destiny) to keep funding the one that face-planted, which is Marathon. Destiny 2 gets its last content update, Monument of Triumph, on June 9, and there's no Destiny 3 in production and no project lined up for now. A significant number of people are reportedly about to lose their jobs. Meanwhile the studio is doubling down on Marathon, the $40 extraction shooter that launched on more than 2 months ago and immediately started shedding players. Currently Marathon has less than 10k players on average per day. Meanwhile Destiny 2 also has roughly 9k players per day, oh one small thing Destiny 2 is 9 years old. It appears as if Bungie named it Marathon and shipped a sprint.

Sony paid a lot for Bungie, and at the time it was to answer Microsoft's acquisition spree. Sony paid $3.6 billion then booked roughly $765 million in impairment losses against the studio this fiscal year, split between a charge tied to Destiny 2's decline and a larger one after Marathon's launch landed below expectations. Marathon reportedly ran a development budget north of $250 million, sold around 1.2 million copies for roughly $55 million gross, and watched its Steam peak of 88,337 concurrent players collapse within weeks. Currently it does look like a financial suicide, but you never know they might pull a No Man's Sky moment.

The Live-Service Logic That Got Everyone Here

Marathon was labeled as Bungie's first new franchise in over a decade, the proof that the $3.6 billion was justified, and Sony has publicly committed to growing its user base rather than cutting losses. Both games are built to run for years, both need constant content, and Bungie has only ever successfully sustained one at a time. Destiny 2 was a commercial success even in early 2020's it was boasting more than 100k players on average 3-4 years after launch.

Why "Incubating New Projects" Is the Scary Part

The team is not getting green lighted for new projects as well. Bungie has run this play before, laying off 220 people in 2024, around 17 percent of the studio, while folding another 155 into Sony Interactive Entertainment. Pitching into an unfunded void during a market this tight isn't a soft landing, The broader 2026 climate has been merciless, with Wildlight's hero shooter Highguard shut down barely six weeks after launch. There are other examples, and we see many flops even from big studios.

Current climate in gaming industry is not getting better, there is no end to it seems, I have been writing on games and esports for nearly 8 years and the last 2 years have been constant one layoff after another.

More:Marathon Rewards Pass Gets More Skins in Mid-April Patch as Bungie Responds to Player Criticism

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Bungie Is Killing What Works to Save What Flopped

Business

22 May 2026 08:13

Tags: Bungie

According to rumors, Bungie is about to start another layoff round. It looks like Sony is winding down its proven money-maker (Destiny) to keep funding the one that face-planted, which is Marathon. Destiny 2 gets its last content update, Monument of Triumph, on June 9, and there's no Destiny 3 in production and no project lined up for now. A significant number of people are reportedly about to lose their jobs. Meanwhile the studio is doubling down on Marathon, the $40 extraction shooter that launched on more than 2 months ago and immediately started shedding players. Currently Marathon has less than 10k players on average per day. Meanwhile Destiny 2 also has roughly 9k players per day, oh one small thing Destiny 2 is 9 years old. It appears as if Bungie named it Marathon and shipped a sprint.

Sony paid a lot for Bungie, and at the time it was to answer Microsoft's acquisition spree. Sony paid $3.6 billion then booked roughly $765 million in impairment losses against the studio this fiscal year, split between a charge tied to Destiny 2's decline and a larger one after Marathon's launch landed below expectations. Marathon reportedly ran a development budget north of $250 million, sold around 1.2 million copies for roughly $55 million gross, and watched its Steam peak of 88,337 concurrent players collapse within weeks. Currently it does look like a financial suicide, but you never know they might pull a No Man's Sky moment.

The Live-Service Logic That Got Everyone Here

Marathon was labeled as Bungie's first new franchise in over a decade, the proof that the $3.6 billion was justified, and Sony has publicly committed to growing its user base rather than cutting losses. Both games are built to run for years, both need constant content, and Bungie has only ever successfully sustained one at a time. Destiny 2 was a commercial success even in early 2020's it was boasting more than 100k players on average 3-4 years after launch.

Why "Incubating New Projects" Is the Scary Part

The team is not getting green lighted for new projects as well. Bungie has run this play before, laying off 220 people in 2024, around 17 percent of the studio, while folding another 155 into Sony Interactive Entertainment. Pitching into an unfunded void during a market this tight isn't a soft landing, The broader 2026 climate has been merciless, with Wildlight's hero shooter Highguard shut down barely six weeks after launch. There are other examples, and we see many flops even from big studios.

Current climate in gaming industry is not getting better, there is no end to it seems, I have been writing on games and esports for nearly 8 years and the last 2 years have been constant one layoff after another.

More:Marathon Rewards Pass Gets More Skins in Mid-April Patch as Bungie Responds to Player Criticism

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