Sony’s Bungie plans layoffs as Destiny 2 winds down

Sony’s Bungie, a Bellevue, Washington game studio, is planning a significant number of layoffs as Destiny 2 gets its final content update on June 9.

The studio has no new project for that team.

Bungie does not plan to start Destiny 3 right away and has moved some Destiny staff to Marathon.

Destiny 2 will remain online despite the restructuring.

The changes follow Sony’s US$3.6 billion acquisition og Bungie in 2022, as well as later layoffs and project cancellations.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

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Implications, context, and why it matters.

Sony recorded a total impairment loss of US$765 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, tied to Bungie’s weaker results 1.
Sony said sales and player activity for Destiny 2 fell short of what it expected when it bought Bungie 1.
Bungie’s next game, Marathon, has also had a rough start, with about 1.2 million copies sold, according to Alinea Analytics, a market research firm that tracks video game sales 2.
The pressure has also hit staffing. Bungie had 1,600 employees before layoffs began in October 2023, and more than 750 jobs were cut in less than a year 1.

Bungie sat at the center of Sony’s move into live-service games, which are updated over time to keep players active and spending. That push later led to numerous canceled projects 3.
Sony said Bungie is moving away from running on its own and toward a place inside PlayStation Studios as part of a structural reform 1.
The problems have raised more doubts about live-service bets across gaming, where even an established studio can struggle to launch a hit in a crowded market 4.
Critics have said the chase for a Fortnite-style success has left the PlayStation 5 era with fewer releases and a narrower mix of games, though that view is not Sony’s position 4.