According to a new report, Bungie, the studio behind Destiny 2 and Marathon, is reportedly preparing for a major round of layoffs. The development follows Bungie’s recent announcement that it would wind down support for Destiny 2 after nearly a decade.
The report also claims that while Bungie employees have proposed several new projects, including ideas tied to the Destiny universe, none have received approval so far, meaning Destiny 3 has not yet entered development. Instead, the studio is said to be shifting more focus toward Marathon after the game underperformed following its early March launch. Current SteamDB data shows both Destiny 2 and Marathon drawing similar player numbers on Steam, with each reaching daily peaks of roughly 11,000 to 12,000 users.
"The company doesn’t have a new project lined up for Destiny 2’s development team after the game comes to an end next month, according to the people, who asked to not be identified because they weren’t authorised to speak to press."
The report states that Bungie had internally discussed revamping Destiny 2 to make it easier for newcomers to jump in. However, studio leadership ultimately chose to bring development on the long-running title to a close instead.
Although active development is ending, Bungie said Destiny 2 will continue to remain online and playable in the years ahead, much like the original Destiny still is today. The situation comes amid wider cost-cutting efforts at parent company Sony, including the closure of subsidiary Bluepoint Games earlier this year. That has fueled speculation online that Bungie could face major restructuring or even potential shutdown concerns.
However, Destiny 2 will remain playable into the future. "Many changes in this final update will aim to ensure that Destiny 2 is a welcoming place for players to return to," reads the blog post.
Founded in 1991, Bungie first rose to prominence as the studio behind the Halo series, which it created for Microsoft before becoming independent in 2007. The company later launched Destiny in 2014.
Released in 2017, Destiny 2 is a massively multiplayer online shooter set in the 28th century. Players step into the role of Guardians — powerful warriors tasked with protecting humanity’s last strongholds against invading alien factions across the solar system. The conflict is tied to a larger cosmic struggle between the opposing forces of Light and Darkness, with Guardians and alien races serving as proxies in that ongoing war. At the peak of its popularity, Destiny 2 attracted millions of daily players. The franchise became known for combining MMO-style progression systems with the fast-paced action of a team-based first-person shooter. Players could either squad up with others or play solo to battle AI-controlled enemies, compete in PvP matches, and collect stronger weapons and armor to tackle increasingly difficult content.
When Destiny 2 launched in 2017, it was published by Activision Blizzard. However, Bungie ended its partnership with Activision Blizzard in 2019 and took over publishing duties itself. The studio later shifted Destiny 2 to a free-to-play model — a major and unusual move at the time for a large-scale live-service title of its size.