Bellevue, Washington-based game development studio Bungie experienced a whirlwind Thursday as the company revealed plans to discontinue development work on its widely-played online shooter game, Destiny 2.
Eight hours following Bungie’s public statement, Jason Schreier from Bloomberg published a report claiming the studio is preparing for “a significant number of layoffs” after Destiny 2’s development wraps up.
The company announced through its official blog on Thursday morning that June 9 will mark the release date for Destiny 2’s concluding content update, with assurances from Bungie that the game will “remain playable” following this final addition.
Bungie’s blog post explained that it has become evident the Destiny franchise must evolve past Destiny 2, especially following the 2024 expansion titled The Final Shape. The studio indicated intentions to pursue “a new beginning.”
However, according to Schreier’s reporting, Bungie purportedly lacks concrete plans for its next major venture, aside from allocating additional resources toward supporting Marathon, which launched recently in March. Despite Marathon receiving better-than-expected reviews at launch, Schreier’s article indicates the title has fallen short of Sony’s sales projections.
These developments follow recent cost-reduction initiatives by Sony, Bungie’s parent corporation, including the March closure of subsidiary studio Bluepoint Games. Consequently, widespread online speculation suggests Bungie itself could face closure or substantial
restructuring.
Established in 1991, Bungie gained recognition as the creator of the Halo franchise, developing it for Microsoft until the studio became independent in 2007. The original Destiny debuted in 2014.
Destiny 2, which launched in 2017, is a massively-multiplayer online shooter taking place in the 28th century. Participants assume the role of Guardians, empowered warriors defending humanity’s remnants against hostile extraterrestrial forces occupying Earth’s solar system. Additionally, Guardians and aliens represent opposing sides in a cosmic proxy conflict between Light and Darkness forces. (This represents a substantial simplification of a decade-spanning science fiction narrative.)
During peak popularity, Destiny 2 attracted millions of daily players. The series’ traditional appeal has been its distinctive fusion of MMO gameplay elements with team-oriented first-person shooting. Players could collaborate or venture alone to battle computer-controlled adversaries or compete against each other, pursuing enhanced weapons and equipment for tackling greater challenges.
The game combined elements of Diablo with Halo, creating what gaming enthusiasts call a “looter shooter.” While Destiny didn’t originate this format, it’s frequently credited with making it mainstream, alongside notable titles like Borderlands.
Upon Destiny 2’s initial launch, Activision Blizzard served as publisher. Bungie later severed connections with Activision Blizzard in early 2019 and chose to self-publish Destiny 2 under a free-to-play structure, representing an unprecedented decision for a game of D2’s magnitude.
Following Destiny 2’s subsequent popularity, Bungie maintained independence until 2022, when Sony acquired the studio for $3.6 billion. This marked Sony’s first step in multiple strategic moves to transition its creative focus from critically-acclaimed single-player titles (such as The Last of Us and God of War) toward
continuously-updated “games as a service,” a strategy that also involved acquiring Bellevue, Washington-based Firewalk Studio and the subsequent sudden cancellation of its game Concord.
Bungie released The Final Shape in 2024, Destiny 2’s eighth complete expansion and the conclusion of the series’ overarching narrative. Nevertheless, The Final Shape appears to have unintentionally functioned as Destiny 2’s finale.
Although Bungie attempted continuing D2’s storyline through additional expansions such as 2025’s The Edge of Fate, independent monitoring services like SteamDB indicate D2’s total player count has declined since Final Shape’s release.
D2 remains solidly among the top 20 online games in today’s market, at least based on externally available data, though fans have voiced complaints since Final Shape regarding technical issues, an emphasis on repetitive “grinding,” and increasingly aggressive monetization strategies.