The Bungie Situation is Getting Exhausting...

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:01]Hi. Hello. How are you? Come on in and take a seat. Yes, I'm here to talk about the situation regarding Bungie and Sony because I've already received a bunch of DMs from folks asking me if I'm going to talk about it or react to it in any way.

[00:00:14]Yes, this is more so out of obligation than anything because man, I don't really personally enjoy covering news like this. Number one, because it is depressing, and number two, because I am not a game journalist, nor am I anything close to a game dev. I'm just a guy. A guy with minimal editing skills. That's why I have an editor. Say hi, Maggie. I got a degree in communications from a mid-ranked college, barely passable Photoshop skills at best, and a lifelong love of video games, that's it. So, while I'm happy to weigh in on the situation, for the love of God, take everything that comes out of my stupid mouth with a grain of salt. I love my self-employed video game life, but I know damn well that content creators sharing gaming opinions is always dangerous water. Always has been, always will be. No one person ever speaks for the group, myself included. And I urge all of you out there to do reading and research on your own. Get information on your own and form your own opinions.

[00:01:16]Thank you. With that out of the way, let's get some backstory on what the hell I'm here to yap about today. As you may or may not remember, back in 2022, Sony officially bought and acquired Bungie, the game studio responsible for, among other things, the OG Halo trilogy and Destiny. They bought Bungie for $3.6 billion, which admittedly seems like a lot. I mean, for real, even at the time, many industry vets were going, "Holy [ __ ] that's kind of a lot." Anyway, fast forward to today, or more specifically this past weekend, where Sony in their fiscal year 2025 consolidated financial results report, which I will link down in the video description if you want to comb through it yourself, reported a 120.1 billion yen, aka $765 million, give or take, impairment loss against Bungie's assets during the financial year ending March 31st, 2026. Now, I understand that hearing that entire jumbled word salad may cause a John Melanyish response.

[00:02:19]>> I can't tell you how frustrating it is to not know what that means.

[00:02:25]>> Think of it like this. Your dad buys a collectible waffle iron signed by George Foreman for $100. He's pretty sure that not only will the value of the waffle iron go up over time, but he also plans to make and sell waffles, too. You know, for extra money. So, he makes a few waffles. And while some people really like him, many in the neighborhood do not. He's not selling as many waffles as he'd hoped. People are more interested in crepes, as it turns out. And the waffle iron is kind of being mismanaged and looking really tired and run down.

[00:02:58]There are arguments about the quality of the waffles and how they could be improved, but nothing major is happening. And your dad tries to make the waffles taste better by adding a portal, and that complicates things.

[00:03:09]that now way fewer people are buying waffles than he'd hoped. And also, he dropped it a few times and it's really scuffed now. And financial experts estimate the value of the waffle iron is now way lower than what he originally bought it for. That's kind of the current situation going on with Sony and Bungie. And of course, the exact minute that Sony reported that financial information, myself and many other people immediately let out a big frustrating sigh because we all know what it's going to mean. It means that the next few days are going to be jam-packed with doom and gloom gaming journalist articles and with gamers, fans, content creators, and the like all yelling at each other, calling each other dumb, saying I told you so, saying people are on copium, calling each other meat riders, posting Steam chart numbers, the whole nine yards. I think Destiny the meme put it best. Oh boy, I'm sure we're about to see some real welladjusted and completely normal conversations and narratives soon. On a personal note, I feel like whenever I do open up Twitter to read how the player base at large is feeling regarding big gaming related news like this, I've come to realize that there are basically four different types of replies. Type one, people who are interested in having a detailed discussion about the situation, often including sources and trying to talk about things in a relatively rational manner. I'm not saying that they're 100% correct across the board, but I'll usually read what they have to say based on the effort put into what they wrote, the fact that they seem to have cared enough to do some homework, and they're trying to discuss things without a ton of emotion. Type two, people who aren't necessarily trying to site sources or bring hard facts to the table, but rather are trying to generally summon good vibes despite a very obviously bad situation. Type three, people who just want to weigh in one way or another and voice their own personal feelings on the situation, whether that be negative or positive.

[00:05:02]And type four, trolls, who aren't there to further the discussion in any way, and either post nothing but screenshots of the marathon player count taken at 4:00 a.m. on a Wednesday, or memes that they think nail the center of the bullseye, but they're not even really aiming at the right target. Naturally, I try to spend most time reading one, twos, and even threes. Honestly, I don't mind negativity or people who look at things with a half glass empty attitude.

[00:05:26]It might make me a little bit sad to read, but as long as people are sharing thoughts in a way where they're not telling people to drop a toaster into the bathtub, yeah, I'll read it. Anyway, back to Sony and Bungie. I think that the majority of people after having read all the news regarding the Sony financial report now maybe have three questions on their mind. Question number one, how is this going to affect Marathon? This one seems like it might have the most straightforward answer for the time being. According to Sony CFO and corporate executive officer Lin Tao, the short answer is they're going to keep supporting it. The following is transcribed directly from the Sony call.

[00:06:04]Quote, in our studio business, earnings from Bungie's title portfolio did not reach our expectations, so we downwardly revised our business plan and impaired the full amount of the fixed assets related to Bungie except for Goodwill.

[00:06:18]Player reception to Marathon is strong with the game receiving a Metacritic score of 82 and more than 90% of the player reviews on Steam being positive.

[00:06:27]Engagement metrics such as retention also remain at a high level. Going forward, we aim to improve the performance of the game by working to retain highly engaged core users through the introduction of additional content, further improvements in the gameplay experience, and expansion of the user base. That seems pretty straightforward.

[00:06:45]Despite the fact that not a ton of people are playing Marathon, user reviews and the overall feedback of players who actually are playing the game is actually good. The active player count definitely isn't as big as it could be, but godamn the people who log on, those [ __ ] really do like Marathon. It's like when a movie comes out with low box office numbers, but kind of becomes a cult classic among certain groups. Unfortunate for sure, but understandable. And while plans definitely can change down the line based on what happens, Sony's current plan seems to be that they're just going to keep supporting it. Last I checked, season 2 for Marathon is scheduled to drop sometime in June. And I feel like this is going to be a fairly important window for Marathon because not only are they getting more content, but everyone is getting their gear reset and starting over from zero. I'm genuinely curious to know how many players who grinded season 1 are going to return. How many new players might show up for the reset at season 2? What's going to be different?

[00:07:40]Blah blah blah. You get the idea.

[00:07:42]Anyway, question number two, how is this going to affect Destiny? The answer to that question seems way more murky. To repeat, you can easily find a completely transcribed version of the Sony financial call. And while combing through it, I realized that the word destiny never comes up. Although early on in the call there is a line where they say quote, "We downwardly revised our projections and recorded an impairment loss against a longlived asset at Bungie." I can only imagine that is Destiny because I mean I'm not sure what the hell else it would be.

[00:08:15]Again, other than that one particular mention, I couldn't find any discussion regarding Destiny. As of right now, your guess is as good as mine, man. Like Marathon, Destiny 2 is also slated for an update sometime in June that Bungie has not been very chatty about, something that we'll talk about a bit later. Also, this isn't scheduled to be a major expansion like the Edge of Fate or Renegades, but rather a midseason update, kind of like Ash and Iron.

[00:08:41]Beyond that, last we'd heard Bungie was still working on two DLCs, Shattered Cycle and The Alchemist. Again, though, I don't think we've heard anything on either of those in a hot minute. And the silence from Bungie lately has really been godamn deafening. Among the players who are still actively playing Destiny, the general consensus is that players are feeling pretty starved for information about the upcoming June update. Principal Comm's manager DMG04 commented on May 7th regarding the update. Still have a few lighter twids in the pipe. Community focused emblems and foundation details. No, y'all are chomping at the bit for news, dotting eyes, crossing tees, looking to have game focused articles as soon as they're ready. Content creator Mactix replied with something that resonated with me pretty strongly. Is there any expectation setting that you can share about what these articles will cover?

[00:09:34]The lack of info about what's to come beyond the June update is what's worrying most about Destiny's future.

[00:09:40]Can we expect anything about long-term or will these just be June update focused? As far as I know, no one at Bungie has yet to reply to that comment.

[00:09:49]And again, I agree. It is pretty worrying at this stage. I know that the very longunning meme in the D2 community is the next update is going to be make or break for Destiny, but the more time has gone by, godamn does it feel more and more true. Some players are speculating that if we ever got a Destiny 3, and that is a really freaking big if, not only would it potentially be way far off in the future, but we might have to consider the possibility that it wouldn't be in the hands of Bungie. And that brings us to question number three.

[00:10:22]How is this going to affect Bungie? The answer to that question seems equally as murky. In an article dating back to 2023, around the time when Bungie experienced a large wave of layoffs, an article by IGN mentioned the following.

[00:10:36]While the exact details of Sony's deal to acquire Bungie remain unknown to the public or employees, sources say they were told by leaders that the current split board structure is contingent on Bungie meeting certain financial goals.

[00:10:50]If Bungie falls short of certain financial thresholds by too great an amount, Sony is allowed to dissolve the existing board and take full control of the company. Such a takeover wouldn't necessarily be shocking given its acquisition, but it would nevertheless be a stunning development for a company that has historically prided itself on its independence. Jumping ahead to a different article in the summer of 2025.

[00:11:14]Quote, "Tao also speaks about the governance of Bungie more widely, mentioning that following the structural reform announced last year, aka referring to the company layoffs, the studios independence is getting lighter and Bungie is shifting into a role which is becoming more part of PlayStation studios and integration is proceeding.

[00:11:33]That also seems pretty straightforward.

[00:11:35]And yeah, while we have public info and quotes from game journalists and highle Sony execs on public calls, I will forever be incredibly curious about everything that gets discussed behind closed boardroom doors that will just straight up never ever get to hear. But signs that we can at least seem to be all pointing in the direction of big daddy Sony sliding into the driver's seat more and more. And even though I didn't fully read it because I feel like I've just been so unbelievably overwhelmed by the amount of draining gaming news lately, I saw Paul Tassy had an article out that talks about the possibility of Bungie not being able to properly sustain both Destiny and Marathon at the same time and suggesting a kind of idea that one may need to be quote frozen in cryo. I think a bunch of players in the community saw that article because all of a sudden I was reading a lot of discussion about which of Bungie's two children should be getting the lion share of dev support from here on out. Some were in clear favor of Marathon. Hey Bungie, don't invest in the new game with lots of potential that got great reviews and was praised by actual players who played it.

[00:12:39]Instead, invest in the game that's been around for almost a decade and that no one is ever satisfied with and has never been consistent. Others though were in clear favor of Destiny. I don't know if this is a hot take, but yeah, they should absolutely prioritize Destiny over Marathon. I love Marathon and think it's super fun, but this idea that it has anywhere near the same upside and potential that Destiny does is crazy. I was happy to see that despite completely different viewpoints, some players agree that the ideal end goal is that Bungie continues to invest into the future of both games, which I hope is the case.

[00:13:12]And now on a personal note, even though I haven't been playing it as much lately, I do agree that Marathon has a bunch of potential, and I'd be happy seeing it grow into something bigger and better overall. But godamn, please do not leave Destiny in the dust. I don't mean Destiny 2 specifically. I mean Destiny as a franchise. I and I'm sure many others would wait for a Destiny 3, even if it meant several years of silence and yearning. And to those out there who would say D3 wouldn't change anything, well, I strongly disagree, but that's a discussion for another time. It really sucks to admit this, but this current period of time is by far and away the least I have ever played Destiny. But I don't got to tell you, you've already seen it. I've stopped making Zur videos. That's [ __ ] up.

[00:13:59]That hurts me in my soul. And I have other games that I've been playing to pass the time, which don't get me wrong, I like them all very much. But none of them have ever made me feel the way that Destiny has. Not by a mile. And usually it's around this point in the conversation where somebody says, "Hey man, just let it die." And I mean, yeah, we could, but do we really want it to go out like this? To fade away with a whimper and not a bang? Hell no. And look at games like World of Warcraft and Warframe and hell even Dead by Daylight.

[00:14:30]Yeah, I admit it's comparing apples and oranges, but still, when managed properly, longrunning live service games can keep going strong. And what makes it really hurt so much more is that there's such a lack of communication going on right now about the short and long-term future of the franchise. Looking over at how communications are being handled on Marathon, I have to say that I am truly jealous. People may disagree on whether or not Marathon is a good game or whether it should have ever been made at all. and so on and so forth. But one thing I think is pretty hard to argue with is that at the very least their communication game is on point. Joseph Zaggler, current game director for Marathon, is constantly yapping on Twitter about what's going on with the game. Talking about sponsored kit updates and rotating free kit game types, talking about trying to get a handle on annoying metas, talking about updates on game pacing, updates on matchmaking, updates on weapon changes.

[00:15:27]And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all those updates have been a smash hit or even popular with the majority of the player base. Speaking only for me personally, the changes made to the waster shotgun I found to be extremely annoying. Having said that, at least they're doing something, and more importantly, they're keeping their players in the loop. Granted, it is probably way easier to communicate and talk shop about your game if it's brand spanking new as opposed to the several years old one. But still, we used to get fairly routine updates from Jogaroth back in the day. And even though there were plenty of times where we were completely ignoring what he was saying because we were too busy laughing at the fact that he couldn't take down an overload champion, we were at least getting comms and they felt really personal. Jump forward to right now and it's all quiet on the Western Front. I straight up cannot remember the last time we've gotten any direct correspondence from the current D2 game director, Tyson Green. To be fair, Lord knows he's probably got a lot on his [ __ ] plate right now. And on top of that, getting up and speaking with the community about the current state of Destiny would be no easy task. It would probably feel similar to going over to the local zoo and jumping directly into the tiger enclosure. But yeah, man. The alternative is way worse, which again is what's going on right now. Not communicating at all and expanding the already very wide feeling gap between the game players and the game makers at the point when the franchise and the vibes are undoubtedly at an all-time low. But I digress. As weird as it is to say, even though the headlines are undeniably sad to read, I think Bungie is just going to continue with their plan of put heads down and work, which is probably a good idea right now. Not to turn a mountain into a molehill, but Sony has a buttload of money. And even though the situation definitely ain't good, I strongly doubt they're going to hold a press conference tomorrow and say, "Well, we're killing Destiny Forever. GG, no re." At least, I would be very surprised. I think we're still a few more headlines away from that press conference if you're picking up what I'm putting down. Having said that, some things will very likely change moving forward. I mean, they have to, right?

[00:17:37]But as to what exactly, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Even though I don't think we're quite at fullon doomsday point at the moment, I did sad chuckle at seeing DTG Reddit mod Mr. Woodhouse's comment of, "If this is the end, it's been an honor playing with you, ladies and gentlemen." And yeah, likewise. Again, I think we're a few more headlines away from, you know, that. But still, even if I'm playing other stuff, I'll always be forever hopeful.

[00:18:07]But that said, godamn, man. Let's see some [ __ ] movement out here, y'all.

[00:18:11]Chop chop. Where's that momentum I keep hearing about? Chop, [ __ ] chop.

[00:18:17]Jesus Christ. Thank you very much for watching. See you next time.