{"id":1991067,"date":"2026-06-15T12:29:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1991067"},"modified":"2026-06-15T12:29:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T09:29:31","slug":"amid-marathon-slump-and-destiny-2-player-resurgence-former-bungie-employee-claims-studio-was-very-close-to-shutting-down-before-sonys-acquisition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1991067","title":{"rendered":"Amid Marathon slump and Destiny 2 player resurgence, former Bungie employee claims studio was &#8220;very close&#8221; to shutting down before Sony&#8217;s acquisition"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/destiny-2\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Destiny 2<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Amid Marathon slump and Destiny 2 player resurgence, former Bungie employee claims studio was &#8220;very close&#8221; to shutting down before Sony&#8217;s acquisition<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Destiny sealed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/d2-header-end.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A sad Commander Zavala with a Destiny 2 monument behind him.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"d2-header-end.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Eurogamer<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sherif Saed avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/IMG_1950_Uy1XomJ.JPG?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1638\" height=\"1346\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Sherif Saed avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"IMG_1950_Uy1XomJ.JPG\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1638\" height=\"1346\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/sherif-saed\">Sherif Saed<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-06-15T12:29:31+00:00\">June 15, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/bungie-close-to-shutting-down-before-sony-acquisition-its-claimed?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          11 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"f7cc7db3-c07a-426c-adf8-6fd3cbbbd20a\" data-name=\"Destiny 2\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Destiny 2\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Destiny 2\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Destiny 2\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Destiny 2\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Destiny 2\" title=\"Follow Destiny 2\"><br \/>\n  Follow Destiny 2<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>As we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/bittersweet-farewell-destiny-2\">collectively witness the end of Destiny 2<\/a> following its final update, some fans have blamed the game&#8217;s demise on Sony, suggesting the company didn&#8217;t want to continue investing in the sci-fi loot shooter. According to former Bungie community manager Liana Ruppert, however, the real story is more complicated, and developer Bungie was reportedly  in trouble well before Sony had the reins.<\/p>\n<p>Ruppert <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DirtyEffinHippy\/status\/2065249079744164345\">made the claim on X<\/a>, responding to the suggestion Sony is entirely responsible for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/destiny-2\">Destiny 2<\/a>&#8216;s demise.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Destiny 2: The Collection Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qI-fxJM8rSM?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/qI-fxJM8rSM\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Destiny 2: The Collection Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qI-fxJM8rSM\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;Wasn\u2019t Sony though, this fight was pre-Sony,&#8221; Ruppert wrote, later adding, &#8220;Bungie was below the red line before the Sony acquisition. If it wasn\u2019t acquired right then, the studio was very close to shutting its doors at the very least on Destiny. It was an emergency acquisition.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The idea Bungie has been struggling to keep Destiny 2 alive certainly isn&#8217;t new, even after Sony&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sony-buying-bungie-for-usd3-6bn\">$3.6bn acquisition of Bungie in 2022, which <\/a>was seen by some as the lifeline that would keep it going. One need only look at the multiple rounds of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/inexcusable-current-and-former-bungie-employees-react-to-sweeping-layoffs\">staff layoffs<\/a> and various studio decisions around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/destiny-2-has-a-microtransaction-problem\">monetisation<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/bungie-announces-major-changes-for-destiny-2-two-medium-expansions-coming-a-year\">expansion release schedule<\/a> over the years to conclude something about its strategy wasn&#8217;t quite working.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The reality of Bungie&#8217;s troubles was laid bare earlier this year when Sony revealed it had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/bungie-marathon-destiny-765-million-impairment-loss-sony\">suffered a $765m impairment loss<\/a> in its most recent financial year, which it said was the result of extraction shooter Marathon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathon-may-have-sold-roughly-12m-copies-worldwide-with-the-majority-on-steam-rather-than-playstation-according-to-analyst-estimates\">underperforming<\/a>, alongside Destiny 2&#8217;s own performance struggles.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate trailer screenshot showing masked sci-fi character in a yellow alien world\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Destiny-2_-The-Edge-of-Fate-_-Launch-Trailer-0-32-screenshot-(1).png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate trailer screenshot showing masked sci-fi character in a yellow alien world\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Destiny-2_-The-Edge-of-Fate-_-Launch-Trailer-0-32-screenshot-(1).png\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Bungie<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Since then, Bungie has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathons-developers-say-they-are-in-it-for-the-long-haul-amidst-fears-the-game-has-underperformed-in-this-live-service-hell\">reaffirmed its commitment to Marathon, frustrating Destiny 2 players who believe support for the older title should continue.<\/a> Some have pointed to player numbers of the two games as reason enough for Sony and Bungie to keep investing in Destiny 2, especially after the launch of Destiny 2&#8217;s Monument of Triumph update, which caused <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/destiny-2-final-update-big-player-boost-marathon-slump\">player numbers to shoot up to degrees we&#8217;ve not seen in years<\/a> &#8211; just as Marathon was dipping to new lows.<\/p>\n<p>But numbers don&#8217;t tell the whole story, and only Bungie and Sony know the real reason behind their recent decisions. Whatever the truth, we may never find out the whole story.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>As we <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/bittersweet-farewell-destiny-2\">collectively witness the end of Destiny 2<\/a> following its final update, some fans have blamed the game&#8217;s demise on Sony, suggesting the company didn&#8217;t want to continue investing in the sci-fi loot shooter. According to former Bungie community manager Liana Ruppert, however, the real story is more complicated, and developer Bungie was reportedly  in trouble well before Sony had the reins.<\/p>\n<p>Ruppert <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DirtyEffinHippy\/status\/2065249079744164345\">made the claim on X<\/a>, responding to the suggestion Sony is entirely responsible for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/destiny-2\">Destiny 2<\/a>&#8216;s demise.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Destiny 2: The Collection Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qI-fxJM8rSM?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/qI-fxJM8rSM\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Destiny 2: The Collection Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qI-fxJM8rSM\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;Wasn\u2019t Sony though, this fight was pre-Sony,&#8221; Ruppert wrote, later adding, &#8220;Bungie was below the red line before the Sony acquisition. If it wasn\u2019t acquired right then, the studio was very close to shutting its doors at the very least on Destiny. It was an emergency acquisition.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The idea Bungie has been struggling to keep Destiny 2 alive certainly isn&#8217;t new, even after Sony&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/sony-buying-bungie-for-usd3-6bn\">$3.6bn acquisition of Bungie in 2022, which <\/a>was seen by some as the lifeline that would keep it going. One need only look at the multiple rounds of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/inexcusable-current-and-former-bungie-employees-react-to-sweeping-layoffs\">staff layoffs<\/a> and various studio decisions around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/destiny-2-has-a-microtransaction-problem\">monetisation<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/bungie-announces-major-changes-for-destiny-2-two-medium-expansions-coming-a-year\">expansion release schedule<\/a> over the years to conclude something about its strategy wasn&#8217;t quite working.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The reality of Bungie&#8217;s troubles was laid bare earlier this year when Sony revealed it had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/bungie-marathon-destiny-765-million-impairment-loss-sony\">suffered a $765m impairment loss<\/a> in its most recent financial year, which it said was the result of extraction shooter Marathon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathon-may-have-sold-roughly-12m-copies-worldwide-with-the-majority-on-steam-rather-than-playstation-according-to-analyst-estimates\">underperforming<\/a>, alongside Destiny 2&#8217;s own performance struggles.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate trailer screenshot showing masked sci-fi character in a yellow alien world\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Destiny-2_-The-Edge-of-Fate-_-Launch-Trailer-0-32-screenshot-(1).png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate trailer screenshot showing masked sci-fi character in a yellow alien world\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Destiny-2_-The-Edge-of-Fate-_-Launch-Trailer-0-32-screenshot-(1).png\" height=\"1080\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1920\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Bungie<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Since then, Bungie has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/marathons-developers-say-they-are-in-it-for-the-long-haul-amidst-fears-the-game-has-underperformed-in-this-live-service-hell\">reaffirmed its commitment to Marathon, frustrating Destiny 2 players who believe support for the older title should continue.<\/a> Some have pointed to player numbers of the two games as reason enough for Sony and Bungie to keep investing in Destiny 2, especially after the launch of Destiny 2&#8217;s Monument of Triumph update, which caused <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/destiny-2-final-update-big-player-boost-marathon-slump\">player numbers to shoot up to degrees we&#8217;ve not seen in years<\/a> &#8211; just as Marathon was dipping to new lows.<\/p>\n<p>But numbers don&#8217;t tell the whole story, and only Bungie and Sony know the real reason behind their recent decisions. Whatever the truth, we may never find out the whole story.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Destiny 2 Amid Marathon slump and Destiny 2 player resurgence, former Bungie employee claims studio was &#8220;very close&#8221; to shutting down before Sony&#8217;s acquisition Destiny sealed. Image credit: Eurogamer News by Sherif Saed Contributor Published on June 15, 2026 11 comments Follow Destiny 2 As we collectively witness the end of Destiny 2 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1991067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1991067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1991067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1991067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1991067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}