Destiny followers are spamming Sony’s State of Play livestream chat with the hashtag #WeWantDestiny, as they proceed to name for extra from Bungie’s looter shooter franchise, together with Destiny 3.
On the time of this text’s publication, with quarter-hour till at this time’s State of Play (take a look at our dwell weblog right here for all of the bulletins), chat throughout numerous livestreams was filled with #WeWantDestiny in addition to calls for Destiny 3, as followers proceed to push for a continuation of the collection.
Bungie walked away from Destiny 2 earlier this yr, with dad or mum firm Sony backing a deal with struggling extraction shooter Marathon as a substitute. Nonetheless, numerous Marathon updates have didn’t kickstart the sport, resulting in ever louder calls for a return to Destiny.
Regardless of the focal assist for Destiny 3, it appears unlikely that Sony will inexperienced gentle the sport, which might certainly be one more dangerous costly improvement mission at a time of excessive warning throughout the online game business. However may Bungie have extra Destiny in some form or type within the works? With Marathon struggling for participant numbers, how lengthy will Sony give it earlier than the axe falls on that recreation, too?
Bungie’s points with Destiny 2 reportedly started across the time of final summer time’s Edge of Destiny enlargement, which was stated to have underperformed. The choice to tug the plug was allegedly made “earlier this yr” after it was determined to not relaunch the franchise as “Destiny Infinity.”
Forbes reported that Bungie started discussing totally different situations about “what the long run of Destiny 2 would appear like” after December’s Renegades, its Star Wars-themed crossover enlargement, “did even worse [than Edge of Fate] and did not change gross sales or retention trajectory.”
Destiny Infinity would have been a relaunch alongside a return to the one large enlargement mannequin Destiny used to have, however the concept fell by the wayside after it was allegedly determined that the prices and dangers have been too excessive, particularly within the context of assist for Marathon.
Destiny 3 “was thought of, as ever, however issues did not swing that means,” and there was no behind-the-scenes hints {that a} third Destiny recreation is coming, with the price of the sport’s manufacturing cited as the important thing problem.
Destiny 2 launched on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 6, 2017, with a PC model following a month later. Behind the scenes, nonetheless, pressure between Bungie and writer Activision emerged, and the 2 firms formally parted methods in January 2019, ending their 10-year publishing deal 5 years early.
With Destiny in its personal arms, Bungie self-published the sport, however it could not escape monetary troubles and layoffs as Destiny 2 expansions didn’t hit the mark and the participant base dwindled. Extraction shooter Marathon launched early March, with a reported finances of greater than $250 million. It too, in accordance with analysts, has failed to satisfy gross sales expectations.
Bungie has struggled financially for a while, and reportedly was on the brink of closure earlier than Sony purchased the studio again in 2022 for $3.6 billion. Sony not too long ago reported a $765 million impairment loss as a result of underperformance of Bungie particularly.
Bungie suffered a major spherical of layoffs that got here with the choice to finish Destiny 2 improvement. The cuts hit almost 300 employees who labored on the developer’s Bellevue, Washington workplace, official data revealed.
A Employee Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) discover issued by Sony to the Washington State Employment Safety Division, reported by Game File, revealed 292 employees had been let go together with a proper separation date set for July 9. This quantity doesn’t account for Bungie employees outdoors Washington state. It’s unknown what number of employees stay at Bungie following the cuts, though the studio was reported to have employed 850 employees as of 2024.
It was Bungie’s third spherical of layoffs in three years. Based on The Seattle Times, Bungie as soon as had 1,000 workers in Bellevue, in accordance with a 2023 annual monetary report from the town. Between October 2023 and July 2024, Bungie laid off round 320 employees. Local press called the cuts a “bloodbath.”
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You possibly can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.