This has not been a great year for Bungie. From the less-than-enthusiastic reception of Destiny 2: Lightfall to the layoffs that happened on October 30, 2023, things are looking grim for Sony's acquisition.
Amidst all of the controversy, including a gaff earlier this month, a leak from an internal source reported that The Final Shape had been delayed from February to June 2024 and the rebooted Marathon had been delayed to 2025. Of course, the biggest question is "Why?"
What happened to The Final Shape and Marathon?
Update (10/31/2023)
Additional information provided by insider sources to Jason Schreier
According to insider sources providing information to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, the decision to lay off staff and push back the release of Destiny 2: The Financial Shape was made for various reasons. The first is that revenue was 45% below expected projections. The second is that the layoffs were in fact part of the larger restructuring effort made by Sony.
According to Bungie's CEO, Pete Parsons, the low revenue is a result of the negative reception from both critics and players of the most recent expansion, Lightfall. Parsons would go on to say that Bungie would be cutting costs by reducing travel in addition to implementing salary and hiring freezes.
Finally, the reception of the upcoming expansion, The Final Shape, was not meeting expectations. A decision to delay it was made in order to work out whatever issues it has.
Delays are nothing new to the Destiny franchise. Shadowkeep was delayed from September 17 to October 1, 2019. Beyond Light was delayed from September 22 to November 10, 2020. The Witch Queen was delayed from 2021 to February 22, 2022. This delay impacted the release of Lightfall, which was pushed to February 28, 2023.
This latest delay pushes the upcoming Season 23 into extra innings where it must stretch out across six to seven months instead of the typical three. For a game that is practically anemic content-wise at this point, this certainly doesn't bode well.
On May 24, 2023, Bungie unveiled the announcement trailer for a rebooted Marathon, which would now be an extraction shooter. While Bungie never officially confirmed a release date for Marathon, the leak infers that it was originally slated for 2024.
Related: When does Destiny 2 maintenance end?
Now, for additional reasons as to why. Sony Group Corp is valued at $101.64 billion. According to Statista, Sony's global revenue was $82.64 billion while its net income was $6.7 billion in 2022. 31.58% of that, nearly a full third of total revenue, came from all things PlayStation. $3.6 billion of that was spent that year acquiring Bungie to have the developer lead the way in creating more live service titles for Sony. This hasn't exactly bore any fruit for Sony yet.
Despite 2023 being a resounding success for games in general, it is paralleled by many in the industry losing their jobs. While we don't yet know how Sony is doing this fiscal year, it's evident that the giant is in the midst of restructuring.
The company has laid off many working for it including staff at PlayStation's Visual Arts, Naughty Dog, and Media Molecule. This is after PlayStation President and CEO Jim Ryan announced his retirement in September. After nearly 30 years with the company, Ryan will step away at the end of Sony's fiscal year, March 31, 2024. Additionally, PlayStation's Head of Internal Game Production, Connie Booth had also parted ways with the company with no additional information given.
In the Earnings Release for Q1 of Fiscal Year 2023, Sony noted an increase in costs "...mainly due to the impact of acquisitions including Bungie, Inc." It also noted in Sony's forecast that changes in first-party title launch dates play a factor. This may also line up with a leaked internal document from Microsoft noting a "high burn-rate" risk for Bungie when it had considered reacquiring the company in 2020. Sony might be trying to stem Bungie's bleeding of money.
With the push from February to June, this would mean that The Final Shape is moved into the next Fiscal Year report alongside Marathon, should it be released before March 31, 2025. With rumors swirling that Sony is already in trouble for the 2023 Fiscal Year, it's possible that the company is willing to take an extra hit on the chin to make the 2024 Fiscal Year look even better by comparison.
Related: Destiny 2 Festival of the Lost Horror Story God Roll and Best Perks
Alternatively, or maybe even conjointly, Sony and PlayStation could be looking at cannibalizing Bungie and its assets. Despite $1.2 billion being allocated to retaining staff and promises that Sony wouldn't interfere with Bungie's operations, those promises have already been broken. By stripping away "redundant" staff and departments, Sony is cutting down on Bungie's operating costs.
There's something rotten in the house of Bungie and while it wouldn't absolve the company of its sins, an explanation from it or Sony should be made. Right now, we're relying on scraps of information being leaked from internal sources. Even with the wait to make it better, I feel the shadow of what's transpired will loom large over The Final Shape.
For more things Bungie, check out How to get the Festival of the Lost Memento in Destiny 2 on Pro Game Guides.
Christian has been playing games since he could hold a controller in the late 80s. He's been writing about them for nearly 15 years for both personal and professional outlets. Now he calls Pro Game Guides home where he worships at the altar of Destiny 2.