When Sony acquired Bungie in 2022 for $3.6 billion, the move was framed as a strategic cornerstone for PlayStation’s future. Bungie was not just another studio—it was the live‑service studio, the one with the decade-long pedigree, the one that had built and sustained Destiny, one of the most influential online shooters ever made. Sony’s leadership openly positioned Bungie as the internal expert that would evaluate, guide, and greenlight the company’s ambitious slate of more than ten planned live‑service titles.
And Bungie took that mandate seriously. According to reporting throughout 2023–2025, the studio became a kind of internal consultancy—reviewing PlayStation Studios’ live‑service projects, assessing their long‑term viability, and, in many cases, disapproving or delaying them. Bungie’s standards were famously high. If a project didn’t meet the retention, monetization, or content‑pipeline expectations that Destiny had normalized, Bungie pushed back.
The irony is suffocating now.
Because in June 2026, Bungie—the same studio that once judged the live‑service ambitions of others—found itself unable to sustain its own.
THE FINAL DAYS OF DESTINY 2
On June 9, 2026, Bungie shipped the final content update for Destiny 2, closing the book on a franchise that had defined the studio for nearly a decade. The end of active development meant the end of the content treadmill that had kept the studio’s workforce large and its revenue stable.
Just weeks later, the consequences hit like a shockwave.
On June 25, 2026, Bungie confirmed a “significant reduction in force”, cutting most of the Destiny team and portions of the Marathon team, along with Sony Interactive Entertainment staff who supported Bungie’s operations.
Bungie’s own statement acknowledged the painful truth: Destiny 2 had fallen short of expectations in its final years, and future projects were still too early in incubation to sustain the studio’s previous size.
The layoffs were not small. Estimates placed Bungie’s headcount at around 800 employees before the cuts.
HERMEN HULST’S MEMO: NECESSARY, BUT DEVASTATING
PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst issued a memo to staff explaining the decision. He confirmed that:
- Most of the Destiny team was being let go
- Some Marathon developers were also affected
- SIE support teams tied to Bungie were being reduced
Hulst emphasized that Sony and Bungie leadership had spent months reviewing the studio’s long‑term direction, resource needs, and portfolio role before concluding that layoffs were unavoidable. Multiple alternatives were explored, he said, but none aligned with the studio’s new priorities.
He praised Destiny’s legacy, calling it “remarkable,” but acknowledged that the franchise was no longer receiving updates. Marathon, meanwhile, remained “an important part of our portfolio,” though its player numbers had been disappointing and its future uncertain.
JUSTIN TRUMAN STEPS DOWN
As the layoffs unfolded, another major shift hit the studio: Bungie studio head Justin Truman stepped down, less than a year after taking over from longtime CEO Pete Parsons.
His departure added to the sense of instability. Bungie was not just shrinking—it was entering a leadership vacuum at the exact moment it needed direction the most.
MARATHON: THE LAST PILLAR STANDING
Sony had hoped Marathon, Bungie’s extraction‑shooter reboot, would become its next flagship live‑service title. But early player numbers were disappointing, and the game struggled to find its identity in a crowded genre.
Hulst reiterated that Marathon would continue development, with new incubation projects underway, but the tone was cautious. The game was no longer the guaranteed hit Sony had once envisioned.
THE IRONY: BUNGIE, THE LIVE‑SERVICE JUDGE, FALLS TO THE SAME FATE
When Sony bought Bungie, the studio’s first major internal assignment was to evaluate all live‑service projects across PlayStation Studios. Bungie’s expertise was supposed to ensure that only sustainable, high‑quality, long‑tail games survived.
And Bungie did exactly that—often to the frustration of other teams.
Projects were delayed. Some were rebooted. Others were quietly shelved. Bungie’s standards were the bar.
But the irony is brutal:
The studio that once decided which PlayStation live‑service games were viable ultimately could not keep its own live‑service ecosystem alive.
Destiny’s decline, Marathon’s struggles, and the lack of mature new projects left Bungie exposed. The same criteria Bungie applied to others—retention, engagement, monetization, pipeline stability—became the criteria it could no longer meet.
Sony’s $3.6 billion acquisition, once seen as a masterstroke, now looks like one of the most painful miscalculations in PlayStation history.
THE END OF AN ERA, AND AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE
The layoffs mark the end of the Destiny era and the beginning of a smaller, more uncertain Bungie. The studio that once defined the looter‑shooter genre now faces a future built on a single struggling title and a handful of early‑stage prototypes.
For longtime fans, the news feels like a gut punch. Destiny was not just a game—it was a community, a ritual, a world that millions lived in for years. Its end, and the collapse that followed, is a moment of mourning.
For Sony, the situation raises deeper questions about its live‑service strategy, its acquisition philosophy, and the risks of betting too heavily on a single studio’s expertise.
And for Bungie, the irony will linger:
The studio that once judged the fate of PlayStation’s live‑service dreams now finds its own fate hanging in the balance.
