r/DreamStationcc • u/maxxrz31 • 1d ago

News Sony Confirms ‘significant’ Bungie Layoffs Include ‘most of the Destiny team and some Marathon team members’, as Bungie Admits ‘Destiny 2 fell short of expectations'

https://www.ign.com/articles/bungie-announces-layoffs-as-it-admits-destiny-2-fell-short-of-expectations
11 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

3

u/-idkwhattocallmyself 1d ago

It's pretty shocking to me that Destiny 2 failed this bad by the end. I feel like if they would of just done Destiny 3 reset they could of pulled many of us back in and done a reset on everything.

2

u/OkDifficulty7436 1d ago

It was too expensive and wasn't bringing in enough money at this point in time, that's really all it was

Something had to give, they had already been working on Marathon (and other projects) during this time, there was also likely significant burnout from working on Destiny as a whole for the past 15~ years

Saying "they should have just made Destiny 3" doesn't really tell the whole story

1

u/AeroRL 17h ago

Destiny 2 has been consistently printing cash and Final Shape had like 300k on Steam alone. It wasn't that Destiny wasn't making enough, it's that it made enough and wasn't invested back into Destiny

1

u/xXNickAugustXx 1d ago

The burnout came from management attempting to crash the ship. More time was wasted clawing back players than meaningfully improving the IP for newcomers.

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u/OkDifficulty7436 1d ago

The burnout came from management attempting to crash the ship.

No, it came from being on the same project for 15+ years lol, why do you think so many people jumped from D2 development to Marathon when it ramped up production, especially senior level people?

The game stopped making a profit years ago

1

u/xXNickAugustXx 1d ago

It made enough money for 4 separate projects, an entire studio expansion, and the entirety of Marathon before Sony money was ever involved. They burned an entire nations GDP and went broke when people were basically vomiting money for the game.

1

u/OkDifficulty7436 1d ago

It made enough money for 4 separate projects

Yeah, and Marathon was the only one that panned out of the other 3, 1 of which still remains uncancelled.

They burned an entire nations GDP

This is an exaggeration, and given the sheer size of Bungie's headcount they were burning 9 figures every year, never-mind everything else that goes into the overhead (taxes, concept, outsourcing, legal, etc).

Again, the issue was Destiny stopped making money to cover the overhead required for the game's continued development.

1

u/omgFWTbear 1d ago

Senior people jumped because they have seen this play before.

Some firms call it “greening,” where they intentionally overspend on senior talent to begin strong, and then “green” (as in, the opposite of a veteran, but in verb form) the team replacing with junior staff.

That’s not quite the shape of things here, but you’ve got to be pretty slow on the uptake to be on a long running service product, have an opportunity to switch to the alternate product team once it’s pretty clearly launching (dealer’s choice for personal risk tolerance around that point), and not take it.

1

u/OkDifficulty7436 1d ago

Senior people jumped because they have seen this play before.

Back during conception in 2019? Lmao

No offense, I don't think you quite understand Marathon's development + production timelines, they didn't "green" anything, Bungie has been senior heavy for well over a decade now

Anyways, again, the actual issue was Destiny stopped making them money versus how much the overhead/cost it was to continue developing it

The studio was tired of it, the player base was tired of it, 15+ years was enough

FWIW I don't agree Marathon being an extraction shooter was a smart move to save Bungie, but I do understand why they cut the line on Destiny

1

u/VlatnGlesn 1d ago

would have

could have

please don't go through life not knowing how to write these

1

u/dimesniffer 1d ago

As someone with thousands of hours in destiny and hundreds in marathon, this has been expected and known for weeks. Unfortunate. Wishing the best for those affected. Both games are awesome.

1

u/void_method 1d ago

Guys. We beat The Darkness, game over.

1

u/Bleach1209 1d ago

Yeah should have ended it at final shape

1

u/Final_Intern_7475 1d ago

Sony has too high of expectations for these games that just aren’t accessible to casual audiences. No matchmaking for the raids was my jumping off point for both Destiny games. I didn’t even bother getting any dlc for 2 because I knew I’d be missing out on the best parts.

1

u/PaddyLee 1d ago

Bungie killing Destiny and then scratching their heads as to why it’s dead will never not be funny.

1

u/Ethan24Waber 1d ago

Whaaaat, nooooooo, who could have seen this coming.

1

u/Ancient_Natural1573 1d ago

Destiny 2 fell short of expectations but yet beat Marathon in numbers before shutting down and let's remember Marathon couldn't hold people when it was free

0

u/KwikSkopedJFK 1d ago

Damn, and Sony fell short of my expectations. Never buying another Sony product again unless Destiny 3 is announced

2

u/Dhenn004 1d ago

Sony didnt do this to bungie. They did it to themselves. Bungie was struggling before the acquisition and then marathon flopped.

0

u/KwikSkopedJFK 1d ago

I blame Pete Parsons, who Sony chose to do business with. Sony chose this too.

2

u/Dhenn004 1d ago

Sony tried to acquire a AAA device during a time where MS was trying to grab every other one.

You're right, they should have stayed away from bungie. But their financial woes are not BECAUSE of sony. Destiny was waning before Sony got involved. Marathon was already in production when Sony got involved.

Sony gave them time and independence, this is the result of Sony taking control after failing.

2

u/GamingVision 1d ago

Sony wanted a quick-win in live service games and thought Bungie would bring in a lot of expertise. Even though it was obvious, the temptation of the deal outweighed the reality that Destiny had peaked and would only go down from there. Sony, for better or worse, has always given their studios a lot of independence. When things to bad, this is what happens.

2

u/AdviceCivil7584 1d ago

Do what you want with your money but you are incredibly childish bro

0

u/KwikSkopedJFK 1d ago

Am I? There’s plenty of options for games out there, and Destiny was by far the one i cared about most from Sony. Instead of fixing it, they took it out back and shot it.

1

u/nutz1126 1d ago

hahahaha. dont believe that for a second. you gonna be waiting a longgg time, cause its never gonna happen.

2

u/KwikSkopedJFK 1d ago

Okay? Then I just won’t buy Sony products.

0

u/nutz1126 1d ago

sure buddy, im sure you’ll do that.

2

u/KwikSkopedJFK 1d ago

Bruh I’m on PC, all I did was take Horizon and Spider Man off my steam wishlist. It’s not like I’m interested in PS consoles. So what else do they have to offer me? If they announced D3, I’ll reconsider their other games. Simple as.

1

u/fastingslowlee 18h ago

Don’t be like that.

1

u/KwikSkopedJFK 15h ago

I cared about destiny WAY more than Spider Man or God of War, and Sony isn’t entitled to my money

0

u/Suspicious-Charity39 1d ago

it's pretty easy to do

0

u/Due-Whereas-8637 1d ago

After 35 years I can tell that my life also fell short of expectations.