Before you place all the blame on Sony, former Destiny 2 CM says Bungie was 'very close to shutting its doors' before the buyout

A vertically split image, with an injured Cayde-6 from Destiny 2 on the left, and the Assassin from Marathon on the right, both looking directly ahead. — (Image credit: Bungie)

It's a bittersweet time for any Destiny fan, as Destiny 2 is now in stasis after its final update. Hell, even This Week In Destiny, my weekly ritual for over a decade now, is coming to an end. All good things must finish, I guess.

Many have placed blame on Sony for pulling the plug on Bungie's genre-defining looter shooter following its $3.6 billion acquisition of the studio in 2022. Also controversial is its decision to back Marathon in its place. For better and for worse, the debacle is not as black and white as that.

Bungie was below the red line before the Sony acquisition. If it wasn’t acquired right then, the studio was very close to shutting its doors at the very least on Destiny. It was an emergency acquisitionJune 12, 2026

"This fight was pre-Sony," explained ex-community manager Liana Ruppert on social media. "Bungie was below the red line before the Sony acquisition. If it wasn’t acquired right then, the studio was very close to shutting its doors at the very least on Destiny. It was an emergency acquisition."

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Even from the outside, it was clear that Bungie was in a pickle long before it was acquired by Sony. The acclaimed studio had split from Activision in 2019 to self-publish the MMO-lite. With shakeups to content delivery, microtransactions, and pricing over the years, and a declining playerbase, alongside layoffs at the studio, it wasn't too surprising to see the company hunting for a new partner to keep the ship afloat.

And that's how we ended up with Sony ponying up $3.6 billion to make Bungie its own, a deal that hasn't necessarily worked out for the best. Just last month, Sony recorded a $766 million impairment loss against Bungie for the 2025 financial year, a painful one-two punch of Destiny 2 and Marathon failing to meet its expectations. Despite the acquisition, the numbers still aren't adding up.

On the bright side, Destiny 2's final update has bolstered its player count for the time being, and a fan petition asking Sony to greenlight Destiny 3 is taking off—even though it's screaming into the void. Maybe it's not too late for the 'Destiny Infinity' idea that was pitched to save the series.

Rory has made the fatal error of playing way too many live service games at once, and somehow still finding time for everything in between. Sure, he’s an expert at Destiny 2, Call of Duty, and more, but at what cost? He’s even sunk 1,000 hours into The Elder Scrolls Online over the years. At least he put all those hours spent grinding challenges to good use over the years as a freelancer and guides editor. In his spare time, he’s also an avid video creator, often breaking down the environmental design of his favourite games. If you can’t track him down, he’s probably lost in a cave with a bunch of dwarves shouting “rock and stone” to no end.