Bungie is preparing for significant layoffs and has shelved plans for a new mainline Destiny game, according to Bloomberg reporting that lands hours after the studio confirmed it will wind down support for Destiny 2 following a June update.
The news marks a dramatic pivot for the studio, which has anchored its operations around the Destiny franchise for over a decade. With Destiny 2 support ending, Marathon, Bungie's extraction shooter that launched to disappointing sales, has become the studio's primary focus moving forward.
According to the report, Bungie leadership explored ways to revitalize Destiny 2 by making it more welcoming to new players. Instead, executives chose to redirect developers and resources toward Marathon in hopes of building its player base. The studio has no other title in active development and no concrete plans to enter production on Destiny 3.
Bungie remains open to pitching new concepts within the Destiny universe, though greenlit projects are far from guaranteed given market conditions and financial pressures. The studio's trajectory has become increasingly precarious since Sony's 2022 acquisition, which was meant to strengthen PlayStation's live service portfolio.
That acquisition has not delivered the results Sony envisioned. Destiny 2 underperformed expectations, triggering a 204 million dollar impairment charge in 2025. Marathon's poor performance proved even more costly, leading to a 765 million dollar impairment loss for the parent company.
Sony's ownership hasn't been gentle with underperformers. The company closed Bluepoint Games earlier this year despite the studio's track record of critically acclaimed remasters and remakes. Bluepoint never released a game as a first-party PlayStation studio under Sony's watch before the shutdown.
Bungie has begun mapping out Marathon's next phase, including new PvE content designed for players who have no interest in competitive or extraction mechanics. The studio is also working to improve onboarding and reduce friction for new players, attempting to lower barriers to entry after a rough launch.
Whether these efforts can reverse Marathon's fortunes remains uncertain. Bungie clearly isn't surrendering, but the studio faces mounting pressure to prove it can build a sustainable hit outside the Destiny franchise that defined its modern identity.
Author Emily Chen: "Sony paid top dollar for Bungie's pedigree and got a cautionary tale about live service roulette instead, and now the talented studio faces the same executioner's axe Sony used on Bluepoint."
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