Sony Interactive Entertainment confirmed on June 25 that it is laying off a significant portion of Bungie’s workforce, affecting most of the Destiny team and some Marathon staff. The studio, which Sony acquired for $3.6 billion in 2022, will simultaneously end all live content updates for Destiny 2. The game will remain playable, but no further expansions or seasonal content are currently planned.
Hermen Hulst, CEO of Sony’s Studio Business Group, confirmed the cuts in a statement posted June 25. Forbes reporter Paul Tassi put the total at roughly 400 roles, approximately half of Bungie’s remaining workforce of around 800. Sony has not confirmed an official headcount.
What Happened to Destiny 2
Bungie’s leadership said Destiny 2 “fell short of expectations these past several years,” and the data is clear on why. The game hit an all-time Steam peak of 316,750 concurrent players in February 2023. By March 2026, that number had fallen below 8,000. The final content update, Monument of Triumph, shipped June 9.
The decline accelerated after the Edge of Fate expansion in mid-2025, which drew sustained criticism from the community. Cross-platform daily active players fell below 300,000 in late 2025, a figure Bungie had previously described as a potential shutdown threshold. With no greenlit Destiny sequel on the roadmap, the team had no project to absorb them.
Destiny first launched in 2014. Over 12 years, the franchise ran through two major titles, more than a dozen expansions, and a player base that at its peak numbered in the tens of millions globally. No studio successor to the Destiny line has been announced.
Where Bungie Goes from Here
Marathon, Bungie’s extraction shooter, launched March 5 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC to generally favorable reviews, with 74% of critics recommending it on OpenCritic. Season 2 launched June 2, adding a new zone, two weapons, and a runner customization system. The game reportedly did not meet Sony’s commercial expectations, though active development continues with the remaining team.
Sony says Bungie is also working on unspecified “incubation efforts” for future projects. No titles or timelines have been announced, and whether any future work revisits the Destiny universe is unconfirmed.
Context: A $3.6 Billion Investment Under Pressure
Sony’s acquisition of Bungie was one of the largest in PlayStation’s history, positioned as a move to build live service capability at Sony’s first-party level. The logic was reasonable at the time. Three years later, Destiny 2’s commercial value has evaporated, Marathon’s launch has not broken through commercially, and the studio has shed roughly half its staff.
The broader gaming industry has seen over 3,700 verified layoffs in 2026 so far, with Epic Games, Ubisoft, and Eidos-Montreal among the other major names affected. Bungie’s situation is nonetheless notable for the scale of a single announcement and the effective end of a franchise that defined online shooters for a generation of players worldwide.