Bungie Reportedly Planning Major Layoffs as Destiny 2 Winds Down and Marathon Struggles

By SinfulShadows Staff
May 21, 2026

For millions of Guardians, the journey ends on June 9. But for Bungie, the fight for survival is just beginning. After nearly a decade of live-service support, Destiny 2 is approaching its final content update—and a new report from Bloomberg reveals that the studio is planning "significant" layoffs in the coming weeks. With no Destiny 3 greenlit and its high-stakes extraction shooter Marathon failing to meet sales expectations, Bungie's future hangs in the balance. This article breaks down the key developments, the financial pressures from Sony, and what this means for the Destiny franchise.

The End of an Era: Destiny 2’s Final Content Update

Destiny 2 will receive its last live-service content update, "Monument of Triumph," on June 9, 2026. After that date, the game will remain playable online but will no longer receive regular new content. The title launched on September 6, 2017, and has been supported through expansions, seasons, raids, events, and story updates for nearly a decade.

Despite generating over $500 million in revenue at its 2014 launch, Destiny 2 failed to meet Sony’s expectations, resulting in a $204 million impairment loss in 2025. The game’s decline in player engagement and revenue has been a persistent concern for Sony Interactive Entertainment, which acquired Bungie for $3.6 billion in 2022.

According to Bloomberg, the decision to end active development on Destiny 2 was not made lightly. Bungie’s leadership has been under pressure to deliver a sustainable live-service model, but the studio has struggled to maintain the momentum that defined its early years.

No Destiny 3: A Franchise in Limbo

The report paints a stark picture for the Destiny franchise. Bloomberg states that no Destiny 3 or other Destiny-related projects have been greenlit beyond pitching and prototyping phases. Bungie staff are actively pitching new projects, including potential Destiny franchise titles, but none have been approved, and there is no guarantee any will move forward.

This lack of a successor to Destiny 2 is attributed to Bungie’s leadership, not Sony, according to the report. Multiple sources within the studio describe a culture of overreach and mismanagement, where ambitious live-service plans were prioritized over sustainable development pipelines.

The absence of a clear future for the franchise leaves the Destiny community in a state of uncertainty. With no new content planned after June 9, 2026, players are left wondering whether the universe they’ve invested years in will ever see a proper conclusion or continuation.

Marathon’s Rocky Launch and Bungie’s Shifting Focus

As Destiny 2 winds down, Bungie is shifting its focus to Marathon, its extraction shooter that launched in March 2026. According to Bloomberg, the game has not met sales expectations, and approximately 400 people are reportedly still working on the title. Daily active player numbers for Marathon are comparable to Destiny 2, which itself has been underperforming.

Marathon Season 2 begins June 2, 2026, featuring new PvE content, improved onboarding, and changes designed to reduce intimidation for new players. These updates are seen as critical to reversing the game’s fortunes. Some Destiny 2 developers have already moved to Marathon, indicating a significant resource shift away from the franchise that built Bungie’s modern reputation.

The extraction shooter genre has become increasingly competitive, with titles like Escape from Tarkov, Hunt: Showdown, and Arena Breakout vying for player attention. Marathon’s challenge is not just to attract players but to retain them—a hurdle that many live-service games have failed to clear.

Financial Pressures and Sony’s Unpaid Investment

Sony’s $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie has not paid off as expected. In 2025, Sony reported a $765 million impairment loss tied to Bungie, reflecting the studio’s underperformance. This follows 220 layoffs in 2024 (roughly 17% of Bungie’s workforce), with an additional 155 employees moved into roles within Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Bungie CEO Pete Parsons cited rising development costs, economic pressure, and taking on too much as reasons for the 2024 layoffs. In a public statement at the time, Parsons acknowledged that the studio had "overestimated the speed at which we could scale" and that the industry’s broader challenges had compounded internal issues.

The situation has become more dire following Sony’s closure of Bluepoint Games earlier in 2026. Bluepoint, known for critically acclaimed remakes like Demon’s Souls and Shadow of the Colossus, was shut down despite its strong reputation. This raises concerns that Bungie could face a similar fate if Marathon fails to turn a profit.

What’s Next for Bungie and Destiny?

The layoffs are expected to occur after June 9, 2026, which is three weeks away from this report’s publication. Bloomberg indicates that the scale of the cuts will be "significant," though exact numbers have not been confirmed.

If Marathon fails to gain traction, Sony may keep Bungie open for the Destiny brand value but likely with a reduced headcount and quiet development. This would effectively leave the studio in a maintenance mode, similar to how other acquired studios have been handled after their flagship titles lost momentum.

Across the report, one theme emerges clearly: Bungie’s leadership, not Sony, charted this course. The report emphasizes that Bungie’s leadership is responsible for the live-service model, canceled projects, and lack of a successor to Destiny 2. Sony has provided significant resources and creative freedom, but Bungie has struggled to deliver on its promises.

For Destiny players, the coming weeks will bring a bittersweet farewell. "Monument of Triumph" will offer a final chapter, but the future of the franchise—and the studio that created it—remains deeply uncertain.

The coming months will reveal how deep the cuts go and whether Marathon can turn things around—or if Bungie will face a fate similar to other recently shuttered Sony studios. Whether Marathon can salvage Bungie’s future remains to be seen. But for the millions who called the Tower home, June 9 marks not just an end—but a question that may never be answered: what comes next?