Destiny’s developer Bungie is in deep trouble.
Bungie, the studio behind the recently concluded Destiny franchise, is facing some serious trouble. After laying off another 220 employees, its clear things aren’t going smoothly. This comes just months after a previous round of cuts and despite the positive reception to Destiny 2: The Final Shape expansion. The franchise could not have been ended in a better way.
What’s even more puzzling is that Sony bought Bungie for a whopping $3.7 billion in 2022, expecting a much bigger return on investment. Bungie remained independent, but that may not be the case if things continue to stay how they are now.
It seems like things haven’t gone according to plan, and Sony might be losing patience. They promised to garner revenue much higher than what they actually achieved. This is likely because Destiny 2’s previous expansion, Lightfall, was underwhelming and could be the reason why The Final Shape was overlooked by many gamers. Industry insider Jeff Grubb suggests Bungie could lose its independence and become just another PlayStation studio.
It’s a wild turn of events, especially considering Bungie was once seen as a savior to Sony’s Naughty Dog. Apparently, they gave crucial advice to Naughty Dog, helping them avoid a disastrous pivot to a live-service Last of Us game.
Remember when the PlayStation 5 remaster of The Last of Us Part 2 was rumored to have a multiplayer mode? It got cancelled because Bungie let the developers know that a live service game of that sort was an unrealistic idea. Sony, knowing Bungie has a lot of experience in live service games, took their advice and called the project off. Now, it looks like Bungie itself might be struggling to find its footing.
While the layoffs are a major blow, it could have been worse. 155 of the employees laid off have been designated to work under Sony and they are bringing back an “incubation project”. Bungie is spinning off one of its projects into a new PlayStation studio. This could potentially lead to a fresh IP for the PlayStation 5, but it’s still early days.
Destiny’s future also looks uncertain. Bungie is scaling back post-launch content and there’s no Destiny 3 planned. This could spell trouble for a game that relies heavily on player engagement.
So, what does it all mean? Well, Sony’s massive investment in Bungie might be turning into a costly gamble. Unless Marathon, the current project Bungie is focused on, becomes a groundbreaking hit, the studio’s future is looking increasingly bleak. It’s a tough situation for everyone involved, and it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.
