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[StealthGoblin]

So far this is looking like a tremendous waste of money.

Overall I don't think it is.

Marathon
Destiny 2
Matter
Gummy Bears
Destiny Mobile

They just need to get something out the door that isn't Destiny 2. That would help absorb shocks like the projected drop in revenue.

Given how long Destiny 2 has been out - they absolutely should have had something else out by now too.

 

[arkhamguy123]

Man.
Bungie dying would have been a sad sad day in gaming.
I dont even play Destiny anymore but that studio gave me so many great memories over the years I would legit be quite sad to see them going under.

The studio that gave you so many memories hasn’t really existed since ~2013-2014ish

It’s basically Bungie in name only now. Has been for the past 10 years

 

[SEGAvangelist]

If MS passed on publishing the game, and Bungie was still under Microsoft, how would the game come out?

Bungie would have been independent with MS publishing Destiny as an exclusive.

 

[skyfinch]

Congrats to Sony for their efforts!

 

[adamsapple]

Overall I don't think it is.

Marathon
Destiny 2
Matter
Gummy Bears
Destiny Mobile

They just need to get something out the door that isn't Destiny 2. That would help absorb shocks like the projected drop in revenue.

Given how long Destiny 2 has been out - they absolutely should have had something else out by now too.

Matter has been canceled internally.

-Sony fires Bungie developers (it was Bungie itself) = bad Sony.

And who, pray tell, owns Bungie?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I would have never in a million years anticipated that Bungie would be in financial trouble if not for a buyout. Pretty wild state for the industry to be in where you can run one of the most aggressively exploitative monetization schemes pushing the same game for years and still be nearing collapse.

AAA gaming is a such a joke at this point. Sounds like some aggressively bad management at Bungie to squander that much wealth and resources.

They are nowhere near collapse. Stop with the hyperbole. They had a 45% drop in Revenue for a single year, leading to the decision to cut some fat. Obviously having Sony own them, and cover payroll, is important for the stability of their operations, without which they'd have to make more drastic moves or gather outside funding.

Activision was also not near collapse, but decided to sell out due to the state of their studios and the executive wanted a golden parachute.

Bungie hasn't "squandered" wealth and resources. But their GaaS game is not immune to the cyclicality of the release cycle.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Leaving Microsoft was the worst decision Bungie ever made.

You do know Bungie is a lot bigger since they created Destiny, their own property and turned it into the game that it is currently...right?

And they didn't just leave MS. MS just let them go.

 

[Fake]

'We are doing shit, but we can't stop. Someone need to buy us for us keep doing this shit'.

Is impressive modern gaming not taking risks and still being fucked up.

We live in a era of modern gaming where bad management is very common. Is just mistakes after mistakes.

 

[Caffeine]

Overall I don't think it is.

Marathon
Destiny 2
Matter
Gummy Bears
Destiny Mobile

They just need to get something out the door that isn't Destiny 2. That would help absorb shocks like the projected drop in revenue.

Given how long Destiny 2 has been out - they absolutely should have had something else out by now too.

matter was canned
and one of their last staff cutting seemed to fuck over the mobile destiny

Bungie axes staff throwing rumoured Destiny Mobile into uncertainty

It’s official. After rumours broke late yesterday on social media with key staff posting their departures, development giant Bungie has announced a programme of redundancies designed to redu...

www.pocketgamer.biz

gummy bears (terrible name lmao) is gonna be added to the dead moba pile.

d2 final shape and marathon just got delays.

 

[diffusionx]

It's hilarious that Destiny stans were giddy at the idea of Bungie going independent, blaming Activision for everything, when in reality it was Bungie being a shitshow all along.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

'We are doing shit, but we can't stop. Someone need to buy us for us keep doing this shit'.

Is impressive modern gaming not taking risks and still being fucked up.

We live in a era of modern gaming where bad management is very common. Is just mistakes after mistakes.

Bungie does have to take risks. They are developing Marathon, which is a risk. They need to balance out stability with risk taking. Destiny provides some semblance of stability, or at the very least regular cashflows.

The mistakes Bungie made relate to Destiny, but let's not discount how hard it is to keep communities engaged for as long as the series has been in existence.

 

[Roman Empire]

• In-game LFG has been tremendously difficult from a tech perspective and reportedly was announced to the community before the devs themselves. It is far more complicated than players will understand even if it seems like it’s an obvious thing the game should have. It’ll launch, but it’s been a tough road.

Bungie can't even implement a solid LFG system when there are already 3rd party apps doing that for them for years, and their official app has it as well. How the fuck do you implement it in the official app and never tried to integrate it into your game at launch? Bungie is so clueless that doesn't help hearing how bad it is to make content for Destiny even after all the revamp the Tiger Engine went through a few years ago.

It will be a miracle if this doesn't flop at all. The Final Shape might be more like The Final Nail in the Coffin if Bungie doesn't get their shit together (they won't).

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

• "Marathon was always an Extraction Looter Shooter, and Bungie only briefly entertained making a BR. However Marathon was always an Extraction Shooter with it's first playable build in January 2020."
• "Bungie's original goal was to have 4 games: "Marathon, Destiny, Matter, & another one that would come from the incubation team".
• "Matter was canned in December 2020."
• "Most devs from D2 working on Marathon are folks that were burnt out on Destiny 2."
• "'Upper Management' are full of folks you've never seen before."

 

[Roxkis_ii]

Both Destiny 1 and 2 were met with criticism at launch for lack of content and non-existent story. It was the addition of paid expansions that gave the games longevity and now people are feeling nickel and dimed.

The games had valid criticisms, but they were still fun enough that people were still interested in an expansion and even a sequel and it's expansions.

Compare that to say like Anthem who's launch was so rough, the game didn't survive.

Destiny isn't a perfect game. It has had some bad expansions, and they turned the knob a few clicks to far to the greed side of monetization, but it's still fun to be had in the game. I don't think we would be talking about Bungie if they never left Microsoft.

 

[Punished Miku]

They are nowhere near collapse. Stop with the hyperbole.

It's not even my words. My post was saying I found that extremely surprising and hard to even imagine, with how aggressively they take in money. They should be safe from financial risk for a decade, which is why I personally think that's horrible mismanagement.

A Bungie employee said the studio would have been in jeopardy. It's literally in the headline.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

It's hilarious that Destiny stans were giddy at the idea of Bungie going independent, blaming Activision for everything, when in reality it was Bungie being a shitshow all along.

Yeah I remember arguing with a Bungie stan in party chat about this. He was also trying to argue with me why vaulting the old content in Destiny 2 was a good idea. If Bungie is smart, they unvault all that stuff after the Final Chapter release and move on. I just don't think they have it in them, though. They like their whales.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

It's not even my words. My post was saying I found that extremely surprising and hard to even imagine, with how aggressively they take in money. They should be safe from financial risk for a decade, which is why I personally think that's horrible mismanagement.

A Bungie employee said the studio would have been in jeopardy. It's literally in the headline.

Jeopardy is not the same as collapse. You took one word and hyperbolized it into something else. Jeopardy means that the studio would face more difficult decisions in terms of staffing headcounts or having to sell more shares to other industry players like tencent to raise capital.

They were in no risk of "collapse" aka bankruptcy.

 

[Roxkis_ii]

Bungie would have been independent with MS publishing Destiny as an exclusive.

Hold on, I think I realized where we got our wires crossed.

Are you saying Microsoft said no to publishing Destiny (as a multiplatform game) but would have published it otherwise?

 

[thismeinteil]

Leaving Microsoft was the worst decision Bungie ever made.

Yea, cause studios are thriving under MS and nonstop pumping out high quality 90+ rated games. Oh wait...

 

[Punished Miku]

Jeopardy is not the same as collapse. You took one word and hyperbolized it into something else. Jeopardy means that the studio would face more difficult decisions in terms of staffing headcounts or having to sell more shares to other industry players like tencent to raise capital.

They were in no risk of "collapse" aka bankruptcy.

Jeopardy / synonyms: danger, peril, at risk, endangerment, imperilment, insecurity, perilousness, riskiness, uncertainty, instability, vulnerability, threat, menace

You're quibbling over the adjective I chose. This is why it's always a waste of time talking to you. Always dumb shit like this. I wrote "nearing collapse," and you felt it worthwhile to waste time on tone policing when it's literally saying exactly the same thing that is in the headline.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Hold on, I think I realized where we got our wires crossed.

Are you saying Microsoft said no to publishing Destiny (as a multiplatform game) but would have published it otherwise?

I think part of the deal allowing Bungie to go independent was 2 exclusive publishing deals. Halo Reach was one of them, and Destiny was the other one, and MS ended up passing on Destiny. I assume they passed on Destiny because maybe they wouldn't own the IP or something like that.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Leaving Microsoft was the worst decision Bungie ever made.

I can guarantee to you that Destiny makes far more money, even after the 45% reduction in revenue this year, than Halo Infinite does

So who made the right decision? Everyone is quick to shit on Bungie, who clearly has made mistakes (and will hopefully work to fix them), but they've already proven that they can turn things around.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Jeopardy / synonyms: danger, peril, at risk, endangerment, imperilment, insecurity, perilousness, riskiness, uncertainty, instability, vulnerability, threat, menace

You're quibbling over the adjective I chose. This is why it's always a waste of time talking to you. Always dumb shit like this. I wrote "nearing collapse," and you felt it worthwhile to waste time on tone policing when it's literally saying exactly the same thing that is in the headline.

Collapse has a much stronger connotation than the term Jeopardy. Either way, you painted a picture much more dire than reality. A company on the brink of collapse means there's a real risk of going out of business.

 

[Roxkis_ii]

I think part of the deal allowing Bungie to go independent was 2 exclusive publishing deals. Halo Reach was one of them, and Destiny was the other one, and MS ended up passing on Destiny. I assume they passed on Destiny because maybe they wouldn't own the IP or something like that.

Oh wow, that interesting. I always thought they left because Microsoft wouldn't let them make any other game but Halo.

 

[Punished Miku]

Collapse has a much stronger connotation than the term Jeopardy. Either way, you painted a picture much more dire than an 8% headcount reduction suggests.

The headline, and my comment had nothing to do with the 8% reduction. A Bungie employee stated that the studio was in jeopardy if they did not get bought out. They are now bought out so they are no longer in jeopardy. Sony owns them and they have plenty of funding. The 8% reduction is a year later after they are reporting decreasing revenue. If you're going to tell me I'm picking the wrong adjective, at least get the topic of conversation right.

 

[DrFigs]

So one poorly received expansion and people dip that quickly?

I'm not sure I understand the part about them being in jeopardy. Are they saying they were in jeopardy prior to Sony buying them or that if Sony had not bought them and they missed their target by this much, that they would be in trouble. If it's the former than 4 billion is looking extremely spooky.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Oh wow, that interesting. I always thought they left because Microsoft wouldn't let them make any other game but Halo.

It's a big part of the reason, yeah. That, and the company culture change. So in hindsight, I guess the decision to leave MS does allow Destiny to happen, even in the case that Microsoft could have published it. Haha. So you were right.

 

[Poplin]

So one poorly received expansion and people dip that quickly?

it was a poorly received expansion on the back of poorly received seasons, and where all the actual story that matters that was promised ended up being "actually tune into future seasons".

It starts to feel like an abusive relationship where the highs are super high but few and far between and the rest are lows with promises of "i promise ill be better". Goodwill is finite, and they extinguished it for a large part of their community.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

I can guarantee to you that Destiny makes far more money, even after the 45% reduction in revenue this year, than Halo Infinite does

So who made the right decision? Everyone is quick to shit on Bungie, who clearly has made mistakes (and will hopefully work to fix them), but they've already proven that they can turn things around.

You can guarantee me that a multiplatform GAAS title will make more money than a more limited platform GAAS game? Wow, I never would have guessed that.

Also, my argument is that Xbox exclusive Bungie Halo games would have made more or comparable revenue to multiplatform Destiny.

 

[ProtoByte]

• Management said other levers were looked at to avoid layoffs. When employees asked if one lever was executive compensation, they were told no, and that it would not happen at the company.
• Employees are extremely angry with leadership now, and have often communicated that publicly in meetings. Bets were made that did not pay off, but those who made them remain in the company, a fact lost on no one.

Sorry, why do people expect either the explicit or implicit points here?
Studio leadership decided to axe ~100 people out of 1,200-1,400 full-time employees, and the remaining employees think that the sky is falling enough to warrant the ejection of leadership? Why?

Nobody remaining in the company is taking a pay cut. The employees who are laid off get 3 months of pay and benefits for no work... what's the big deal here?

There will be some here who vehemently disagree with me on this, but I think the increasingly entitled and communist contigent of game developers are becoming a big, fundamental issue. Part of the reason they've milked Destiny 2 dry for the past 6 years is to make the lives of their employees easier - really, it's to invest less, but less stress and pressure on devs is the theoretical byproduct of that.

 

[thatsafakewebsitebro]

This man spittin right now. That’s a bar!

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Yea, cause studios are thriving under MS and nonstop pumping out high quality 90+ rated games. Oh wait...

Bungie under Microsoft delivered both quality and exceptional sales. Thats what I'm saying...

 

[Nydius]

It took ten years for the gravy train to slow down and we got two good games in between that time.

I guess you’ve memory-holed the original Destiny 2 launch which was so bad and so poorly received by fans that it almost tanked the entire franchise.

Destiny 2 didn’t get back on track until Forsaken and every decision they’ve made after that expansion has fractured the community further and further. That “gravy train” clearly ran out of steam some time ago because this is a clear admission that the revenue the game brings in isn’t enough to keep it going, and probably hasn’t been for years. Likely going as far back as Shadowkeep or Beyond Light, when they really leaned into their FOMO seasonal designs and started taking content away from players.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

You can guarantee me that a multiplatform GAAS title will make more money than a more limited platform GAAS game? Wow, I never would have guessed that.

We aren't talking about a limited platform GaaS game

It's literally the most important IP microsoft has that put Xbox on the map.

The headline, and my comment had nothing to do with the 8% reduction. A Bungie employee stated that the studio was in jeopardy if they did not get bought out. They are now bought out so they are no longer in jeopardy. Sony owns them and they have plenty of funding. The 8% reduction is a year later after they are reporting decreasing revenue. If you're going to tell me I'm picking the wrong adjective, at least get the topic of conversation right.

I clarified my statement to remove the 8% reduction comment.

 

[graywolf323]

Oh wow, that interesting. I always thought they left because Microsoft wouldn't let them make any other game but Halo.

IIRC that’s not right, they left because Microsoft wanted them to stick to Halo but part of the agreement to them leaving was that Microsoft had right of first refusal to whatever Bungie came up with next, and they then turned down Destiny

 

[N30RYU]

That should have been Halo with Bungie, then Halo with 343

Or Rare with nintendo and Rare with MS

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

This man spittin right now. That’s a bar!

I'm either too dumb or maybe cause english isn't my first language (or both lmao)...wtf does this even mean? The first part i get, but what about the second?

 

[Salty Popsicle]

We aren't talking about a limited platform GaaS game

It's literally the most important IP microsoft has that put Xbox on the map.

Destiny = PlayStation, Xbox, PC
Halo = Xbox, PC

That's all I meant by limited platforms in this context.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Destiny = PlayStation, Xbox, PC
Halo = Xbox, PC

That's all I meant by limited platforms in this context.

And in the context of Halo, it used to outsell all of Sony's first party games combined

The fact that it's on a single platform is irrelevant, it's literally Microsoft's most important property with over 20 years of history. It should be able to compete with Destiny, a game that came out significantly later and which was a new IP, but the opposite has happened.

You claimed Bungie made the wrong move by leaving Microsoft, when the reality is that Destiny is far more popular than Halo is today. So I guess they ended up making the right move, contrary to your claims.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

And in the context of Halo, it used to outsell all of Sony's first party games combined

The fact that it's on a single platform is irrelevant, it's literally Microsoft's most important property with over 20 years of history. It should be able to compete with Destiny, a game that came out significantly later and which was a new IP, but the opposite has happened.

You claimed Bungie made the wrong move by leaving Microsoft, when the reality is that Destiny is far more popular than Halo is today. So I guess they ended up making the right move, contrary to your claims.

Which is why I believe sales performance wise, Bungie leaving MS was not a good decision.

Also, one of the main reasons Destiny had so much hype behind it is because the entire gaming industry knew it was "From the makers of HALO"

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Which is why I believe sales performance wise, Bungie leaving MS was not a good decision.

Why? Destiny sells far more than Halo does today.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Why? Destiny sells far more than Halo does today.

Bungie Halo sells far more than 343 Halo.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Bungie would have been in jeopardy if it weren't for Sony purchase​

Bungie, the biggest bandits in the dev scene. They played a blinder, hats off to them. How did Sony value this at 3.8B lol

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Bungie Halo sells far more than 343 Halo.

The highest selling Bungie Halo game has generated less revenue than Destiny has on an annualized basis.

 

[GloveSlap]

Tired of working on the same game for 10 years.......Works on next game for 10 years

Doesn't want to be a 1st party any more.......Becomes 1st party of the competition.

I know it's a little more complicated than that, but it's still kinda funny and ironic.

 

[Zuzu]

They put all their eggs in the GaaS basket and those eggs have gone rotten

 

[SlimySnake]

Bungie is clearly lost. 6 years after Destiny 2, and no new game? Did they really think that they could keep console gamers locked in an endless cycle of DLCs?

Thats not who we are. With games like Hogwarts and Elden Rings making $800 million in a month, their stupid decision to settle for $100-200 million a year is blowing up in their face right now. I wouldnt be surprised if the revenue is down to $50 million per year since only the whales are playing Destiny 2 at this point.

They shouldve released Destiny 3 in 2020 as a brand new game or worked on a brand new IP. If the best you can do in 8 years is a fucking shitty extraction shooter than you are a trash useless excuse for a video game developer. I thought their next big IP was going to be some legendary shooter like Halo with obvious multiplayer elements. I thought the entire reason why they didnt make Destiny 3 was because they hated making it and wanted to go back to making traditional games.

its obvious now that they have no talent or ambition to make anything even remotely interesting. They are content with making boring and dated Destiny expansions no one other than hardcore destiny addicts want to play. And their ambition basically amounts to extraction shooter.

They have $1,200 people working there making trash while CD project and insomniac with 500 people are far more productive producing industry leading graphics and storytelling. cyberpunk sold 13 million copies in a week IIRC. At full price, thats almost $800 million in revenue. Good look making that kind of cash with destiny expansions. GaaS killed Bungie.

 

[tooevil]

So, if Sony had waited a little longer, could they have acquired Bungie for half the price?

 

[Games of Today]

Not surprised that making a game like Destiny 2 would put a massive studio out of business.

It sucks ass. Even compared to the first one.

 

[SlimySnake]

So, if Sony had waited a little longer, could they have acquired Bungie for half the price?

they were in a bidding war with microsoft so they couldnt have waited any longer.