Sony admits failure at Bungie and records a loss of $3.6 billion

The Sony has confirmed that the $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie, developer of Destiny 2, has been a complete disaster in terms of financial expectations and engagement. As a result of the failures, Sony recorded a "loss from impairment of a portion of Bungie's assets". This official acknowledgment reinforces the critical point in PlayStation's games as a service strategy.

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Sony's Corporate Executive Officer, Lin Tao, shared the comment during the Q2 earnings call of fiscal year 2025:

“Regarding Destiny 2, due in part to changes in the competitive landscape, sales levels and user engagement did not meet our expectations at the time of Bungie's acquisition. While we continue to make improvements, we have downwardly revised the business outlook for now and recorded a loss from impairment of a portion of Bungie's assets.”

The purchase of Bungie aimed to boost Sony in the live-service gaming space. However, Destiny 2 has been "facing difficulties" after the DLC The Final Shape and has "lost players". Additionally, Sony has canceled multiple internal multiplayer projects. Bungie also has Marathon in development, but this title has been hit by controversy due to plagiarism allegations.

In an attempt to turn around the situation, it was confirmed several months ago that Bungie will be integrated into PlayStation Studios for Sony to have more control over the developer.

Despite the failure of Bungie, Lin Tao had more positive comments to share about other parts of the PlayStation business:

"Helldivers 2, which was also released for Xbox in August of this year, is doing extremely well, not only attracting new users on Xbox, but also seeing an increase in engagement from existing users on PS5 and PC. This has resulted in a significant increase in title sales year over year."

MLB The Show 25 is performing well.

Ghost of Yotei was a "great success like its predecessor", selling 3.3 million copies since launch.

Lin Tao concluded: "Based on this recent progress, we intend to strengthen our studio, business, and expand our IP franchises through continuous learning and improvement."

Sony acknowledged that the Bungie acquisition ($3.6 billion) fell short of expectations in sales and user engagement in Destiny 2, resulting in a "loss from impairment" recorded in Q2 of fiscal year 2025. Bungie will be integrated into PlayStation Studios for Sony to have greater control. On the other hand, Lin Tao highlighted the success of Helldivers 2 (also launched on Xbox in August), MLB The Show 25, and the "great success" of Ghost of Yotei (3.3 million copies).