Bungie’s Demise Doesn't Have To Happen, Destiny 3 Could Save It
Topics: Bungie, PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Featured Image Credit: Bungie
Topics: Bungie, PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Just imagine, if Bungie were to suddenly announce Destiny 3 right now. It would take the video game industry by storm, but sadly, it might be too little too late for the Halo creator.
Bungie recently announced that it’s letting go of much of its workforce, reported to be about 50% of its employees who worked on Destiny 2, as well as some working on its newest title, Marathon, according to Forbes.
The Bungie studio is best known for creating the Halo franchise that launched on the original Xbox in 2001, all the way to the Xbox 360, ending with Halo: Reach in 2010. Then in 2014, the studio would launch arguably its most ambitious project to date, Destiny.
Destiny is a first-person sci-fi shooter, somewhat inspired by the Halo DNA, mixed with RPG and MMO elements, making it a unique title for its time. It’s a story centred around a mysterious entity known as the Traveller, located just outside the online player hub, the Tower.
As Guardians, players defend a derelict planet Earth (and beyond) against merciless alien invaders, the Cabal, Hive, Fallen and Vex. Players could choose and customise three character classes: the Hunter, Titan and Warlock. Each had its own skills and abilities, and deep customisation options.
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Players from all over the world would come together to finish the main story missions in epic co-op action, and if they wanted to put their skills to the test, they’d take on the challenging Raids, in the hope of earning some legendary loot.
Above all else, Destiny was a joy to play and forged thousands of friendships, many of which have carried on into 2017’s Destiny 2 and still exist today. Both games were truly special and harnessed a special community that, sadly, today, feels abandoned.
As support gradually wound down, despite garnering respectable online player numbers, Bungie would be acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2022, for a whopping $3.6 billion. While remaining an “independent”, multiplatform studio, Sony clearly had high aspirations for the studio, or at least, we thought.
In May 2023, during a PlayStation Showcase, Bungie announced its latest project, Marathon, an obscure title that was originally released in 1994 on PC, rebooted for the modern generation as an online-only, extraction FPS.
Unfortunately for Bungie, Sony, and the prospect of Marathon being a success, a major spanner was thrown into the works when an artist, Fern "Antireal" Hook, accused Bungie of stealing her artwork. Bungie owned up and apologised for the plagiarism.
However, the plagiarism that Bungie faced with Marathon was not the first time the studio had been accused of stealing someone else's artwork. Bungie had reportedly and “accidentally” stolen artwork used in a Destiny 2: The Witch Queen trailer, as well as for a follow-up expansion, Destiny 2: Lightfall, in a cutscene.
So, when Marathon did finally launch in March this year, it not only had the plagiarism cloud hanging over it, but much of the gaming community felt uninspired by what they had seen in Bungie’s new game. Players had hoped that Destiny 3 would be the next big project to exist alongside the new extraction shooter.
READ MORE: The 6 Best Destiny 2 Missions As Final Update Marks The End Of An Era
When Marathon launched, at least according to SteamDB, it had a decent enough start with over 88,000 concurrent players. Granted, this only accounts for Steam players on PC and not console. But as a general rule, a game’s performance on PC can reflect its console counterpart.
Today, over three months later, that number hovers around a measly 4,000 to 10,000 concurrent Marathon players on Steam. Which isn't exactly groundbreaking for a studio purchased for $3.4 billion.
In the meantime, Destiny 2, a game released in 2019, has an all-time concurrent peak of over 316,000, and in the last 24-hours alone, at the time of writing, it has over 86,000 concurrently compared to Marathon’s 9,550. To put that into another perspective, Destiny 2 is hammering Marathon by 806%.
Imagine players' surprise when, in May 2026, Bungie announced that the final content update for Destiny 2 would be on 9 June 2026. From now on, there will be no free events, no missions or expansions. Nothing. Pretty much all of Bungie's focus will be on the crumbling Marathon, which always felt like a lost cause before it even launched.
Reports soon came out to confirm that not only is Bungie ending support for Destiny 2, but internally, any chance of Destiny 3 seeing the light of day has been put to bed. This triggered passionate fans to form a petition, urging Sony to greenlight Destiny 3, a game that could exist alongside Marathon.
After a day or so, the petition urging Sony to develop Destiny 3 was around 50,000 signatures. When we published an article on the Destiny 3 petition on 25 May 2026, that number was over 173,000. Now, correct at the time of writing, that number has grown to just under 400,000. Yet, the fans' pleas have seemingly been ignored.
I get it, Sony acquiring Bungie cost a lot of money, perhaps more than it should have. Marathon is the first major release since the acquisition, and even though the writing has been long on the wall, Sony probably doesn't want to admit defeat and let everyone know how it got everything drastically wrong.
As a fan of Bungie since the original Halo: Combat Evolved, and having been with the studio through thick and thin, it’s sad seeing its demise, especially when many jobs are being lost for mismanagement above their pay grade.
I can’t see any way back for Bungie with Marathon being the community's unelected saviour. The only way I can see a rise from the ashes is by announcing Destiny 3 within the next year. It would not only be an emotional time for loyal fans, but it would also be a chance for one of the industry giants, Sony, to hold its hand up and subtly admit it got it wrong.
Whether or not that wishful dream comes to fruition remains to be seen. I’m sure many Destiny fans refuse to give up hope, and to paraphrase our beloved Dinklebot, Guardians will be keeping their “Eyes Up” just in case.