Bungie Plans Significant Layoffs Amidst Destiny 2 Development Shift
Quick Look
- Bungie, a PlayStation studio, is planning significant layoffs following the announcement of ending active development on Destiny 2.
- The studio will focus on its game Marathon, which underperformed, and has no new projects immediately lined up, including Destiny 3.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Bungie, a PlayStation studio, is reportedly planning significant layoffs. This news follows the studio's announcement to end active development on Destiny 2 and shift focus to other games, including Marathon. Marathon's underperformance has led to financial losses for Sony.
Bungie, the PlayStation studio behind Destiny, is planning a "significant number" of layoffs, according to Bloomberg.
The report came shortly after the studio announced that it was ending active development on Destiny 2 to start working on its next games.
Bloomberg says, however, that Bungie doesn't have any new projects lined up, and it doesn't plan to immediately start working on Destiny 3.
The studio will instead focus on its latest game Marathon, its first-person shooter that came out in March, perhaps in an effort to develop the kind of features and updates that would get more players to sign up.
Marathon didn't perform quite as well as Sony had hoped, and it had led to a $560 million loss for the company for the quarter that ended after the game came out.
Bungie had already moved some Destiny staff to the Marathon team in recent months, which signals that it's putting more resources into the struggling game.
It's not quite clear if Bungie has solid plans for Destiny 3 at this point, or if it's possible that the game wouldn't happen at all.
Staff members have reportedly been pitching new projects, including titles for the Destiny franchise, but Sony hasn't approved any of them.
For now, fans can still look forward to Destiny 2's last live service update, Monument of Triumph, which will be rolling out on June 9.
The studio plans to keep the game's servers online and to keep it playable for years to come, but as IGN notes, fans are worried about the possibility of Sony shutting down the studio completely like it did Bluepoint.
If you'll recall, Bluepoint was a first-party studio behind a lot of PlayStation remakes and had even wanted to work on Bloodborne before it was shuttered.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Bungie will proceed with significant layoffs.
Very likely · Within days
Bungie will shift resources to develop Marathon further.
Likely · Within weeks
Destiny 3 may not be developed.
Possible · Within months
Open Questions
- What is the exact number of employees to be laid off?
- What new projects, if any, has Sony approved for Bungie?
- Will Bungie continue to support Destiny 2 with content beyond the Monument of Triumph update?
- What is the long-term strategy for the Destiny franchise?




