The uncertain fate of Bungie after the peak of its franchise

The journalist Paul Tassi discovered that the dismantling plan remains unchanged. When questioning internal sources if the recent engagement peak would alter the studio's fate, the employees' response was a stark "No." It's surprisingly cold to see such an engaged community being sidelined like this. After the release of a final patch to fix the remaining expansion bugs, the ongoing support team is expected to be disbanded. Minor bugs and everyday programming errors will simply be ignored moving forward, and the developer will only intervene if the game completely breaks and becomes inaccessible. The chronic disregard for consumers who have spent real money on expansions for years leaves a very bitter taste.

This drastic shift occurs right after Destiny 2 experienced an excellent revival, reaching the third position in global revenue on the Steam platform for nearly a week. Yet, the executives seem to ignore their own commercial success. The management's plan is to cut about 400 jobs, which equates to practically half of Bungie's entire creative force. To worsen this dire scenario, there are absolutely no projects for a potential Destiny 3 being developed in the company’s offices, burying any prospects of the franchise's evolution.

The entire focus of the company's survival has shifted to Marathon. However, this new extraction-focused project is facing severe issues during closed tests to maintain player interest. Betting everything on an uncertain intellectual property while dismantling a solid fan base is an incredibly risky, not to mention unwise, business strategy.

Tassi drew a concerning parallel with the direct competition in this game-as-a-service market. While titles like Warframe maintain a healthy community with regular updates and Ubisoft provides robust support for The Division 2 despite their own missteps, the Destiny owner chooses to abandon ship. Former employees share a deep sense of frustration with this shortsighted management, which seems to implode its own legacy for an uncertain bet in the dark.