Another Report Says Bungie Has Nothing More In Development, But Marathon Will Be Allowed To “Find Its Legs” – WGB
A new report from Forbes supports what we previously heard from Jason Schreier while adding a few more details to Bungie’s situation: Destiny 3 is not being developed, nothing else has been revealed, and a layoff is reportedly planned, although not immediately.
Paul Tassi of Forbes has published a new report discussing the current situation at Sony-owned Bungie, which recently announced that support for Destiny 2 is ending as the studio focuses entirely on Marathon.
According to Tassi, most of Bungie’s employees were unaware that support for Destiny 2 was ending. This decision is said to have been taken at the beginning of this year, and some workers are said to have “begged” the leadership to inform the workers as soon as possible.
As is often the case with major internal redesigns, developers have reportedly continued to work on Destiny 2 content until a public announcement is made.
Shortly after Bungie’s announcement, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier said that Bungie currently has no other projects in development and that layoffs are still planned.
Tassi’s reporting seems to support that claim. According to him, it is expected to be demolished, but it has not come soon. “They are important, but they are not coming quickly,” Tassi wrote, adding that questions about the layoffs during the company’s boardroom were reportedly blocked by leadership.
Tassi reiterated Schreier’s previous report that Bungie currently has nothing else in active development beyond Marathon. According to Tassi, “Destiny 3 isn’t productive and it’s not bright,” and no other projects have been reportedly approved either. While there have been internal pitches for projects using the Destiny IP, none have been given the go-ahead.
He also elaborated on Schreier’s earlier claim that Destiny 3 was considered too expensive to pursue, writing that “Sony was wary of making such an expensive project in a market that is more dynamic and challenging than ever.”
That hasn’t stopped fans from launching a Change.org petition in an attempt to persuade Sony to allow Bungie to begin development on Destiny 3.
With nothing else reportedly going on, Bungie seems to be leaning heavily on Marathon’s success. According to Tassi, Sony is putting more resources into the game and intends to give it time to develop itself.
“The new PvP/PvE modes are designed to expand the player base, and larger teams are designed to release more content now,” Tassi said.
Tassi also noted that “Bungie’s fate will come down to how much Sony wants to continue to invest in the studio (which we still see at around $3 billion) in terms of time or money, and how little they think it needs to sustain going forward.”
There is nothing new in Tassi’s report, but it confirms what we already heard while adding more details, including confirming what many suspected: Sony seems unwilling to finance the development of Destiny 3. It puts Bungie in a bad position because Destiny 3 would have been the next most obvious choice, and possibly the biggest future money maker for the studio.
Another troubling detail is Tassi’s suggestion that Bungie’s future may depend on how small Sony believes the studio is to remain stable. Currently, Bungie is reportedly sitting on around 800 employees.
