Bungie Plans 400 Summer Layoffs as Marathon Falters and Destiny 2 Ends

Q: Beyond layoffs, what is the secret 'next game' Bungie is betting its entire future on?

Bungie’s immediate make-or-break bet is **Marathon**, not a separate revealed “secret” title. The reporting around the studio’s layoffs and restructuring points to a clear shift: **Destiny 2 is moving into maintenance mode after its final live-service update, and there is no announced Destiny 3**, while Bungie’s active development focus has narrowed to Marathon and a small number of early-stage incubations. Multiple reports describe Sony and Bungie as centering the studio’s future on Marathon after earlier cuts in 2023 and 2024 and after Bungie’s financial struggles worsened. What makes Marathon the key bet is that Bungie is reportedly not abandoning it despite an underwhelming launch. Instead, the studio is said to be **investing heavily in a long-term overhaul** aimed at broadening the game beyond its initial extraction-shooter identity. That includes plans for more PvE-heavy options, co-op PvE content, and eventually broader PvP offerings, in an effort to expand retention and rebuild the audience. There may be other “next games” in incubation, but **none has been publicly identified as the studio’s near-term lifeline**. Those projects appear to be years away and too early to anchor Bungie’s business. Based on the available reporting, the practical answer is that Bungie is betting its future on **turning Marathon into a sustainable multi-mode live-service platform**.

3 articles · Updated · Insider Gaming · Jun 17

At least 400 Bungie employees — roughly 50% of its 800-person workforce — are reportedly at risk in a summer layoff round that has not yet been officially announced.
Destiny 2's final update and Marathon's underwhelming performance have sharply reduced the studio's near-term workload, according to the report.
French journalist Sylvain said on X that Bungie should expect "massive layoffs" this summer, framing the cuts as a response to the state of its two main franchises.
The reported downsizing would add to a broader games-industry retrenchment, with Xbox also said to be planning July cuts and Ubisoft already having shed hundreds of jobs.