Listen—End of Live Service Support Destiny 2 It's disappointing. You can't deny it. We've seen many of us watch games that have taken up all, or at least a significant portion, of the gaming industry over the past decade, so this deterioration is not only understandable, but completely justifiable. But no matter how painful the inevitable end may be, Destiny 2 And despite how justified it is that we feel so heartbroken about this situation, there is no excuse or reason for Bungie to spew hateful rhetoric as if the studio were solely responsible.
It'd be easy to see all of this as a bungee-only issue, but that's actually not the case. In 2022, 100% of the developer's shares were acquired by Sony. Sony ultimately moved forward with the acquisition because it believed it would help Bungie build on its continued success and advance its live service ambitions. Destiny 2. Less than four years later, the game's ongoing development is wrapping up with the final update in June, and moreover, Destiny 3 It doesn't even happen. In other words, fixing death is that easy. Destiny 2 Sony's role only at Bungie makes its conclusions much more difficult to defend.
Saying goodbye to Destiny 2 is the hardest thing I've ever done in gaming.
Saying goodbye to Destiny 2 breaks my heart because I'm not just leaving the game, I'm leaving a version of my life that I can never return to.
The end of Destiny 2 is Sony's problem, not Bungie's problem
What's important here isn't simply the fact that Sony owns Bungie. What ultimately determines whether or not there will be a change in ownership. Destiny 2 It's still worth the kind of investment players expect. Bungie may come up with new ideas, rework its live service model, and try to convince players that there's still life left in the franchise, but the studio under Sony no longer operates with the same freedom it did before the acquisition.
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This is where the frustration surrounding Bungie actually makes some sense. Players can criticize Bungie for years of questionable decisions, and some of those criticisms are completely fair. Destiny 2 It never got to this point because everything was going perfectly until Sony suddenly intervened. But once games became part of Sony's portfolio, the biggest questions about its future became Sony's own. Bungie's parent company, Sony, was the company that supported Bungie's operations and determined the value of its ongoing investments in the studio's projects. To quote Hopper: Bug's Life“First rule of leadership: Everything is your fault.”
Sony acquired Bungie for its live services, then pulled out when it needed help.
Sony's own financial position makes it even more difficult to ignore its role in all of this. The company reportedly took an impairment loss of $766 million against Bungie in FY2025, and previously reported an impairment loss of roughly $198 million. Destiny 2 It fell short of Sony's sales and engagement expectations. Simply put, Sony bought Bungie. Destiny 2 And while Bungie's live services expertise would help justify a much larger live services future, it had to write down Bungie's value on its books when that future didn't look as profitable as first expected. So Bungie's mistake helped, but Destiny 2 In this position, Sony is a company that has looked at these numbers and decided that the franchise no longer justifies the same level of investment.
That doesn't mean Sony is dead Destiny 2 It's done out of malice, and it doesn't mean Bungie will get away with their mistakes. A more realistic version is less dramatic but probably more accurate. Sony acquired Bungie with high hopes. fate And if Bungie's live service expertise has any value, it seems they've re-evaluated that value. Destiny 2 and marathon It no longer matches those expectations. In that context, Destiny 2's final update is a tangible result of Sony deciding how much more value Bungie's most important franchise deserves.
Once gaming became part of Sony's portfolio, the biggest question about its future became Sony's question.
That's why just blaming Bungie might miss the bigger picture. Bungie might have put it there. Destiny 2 Although it is in a vulnerable position, Sony is now the company that decides what that vulnerability means. if Destiny 2 Active support is ending. Destiny 3 Reportedly, it's not in development and Bungie is actually facing more layoffs. This is about the franchise measuring up to Sony's expectations and clearly falling short.
Destiny 3 needed players of the future, but Sony didn't seem to approve.
Of course, you could say, “If only Bungie had done better.” Destiny 2Then Sony wouldn't have had to make the unfortunate decision to shut it down.” And perhaps, from some perspective, that's true. Bungie has made a lot of mistakes over the years. Destiny 2 By mistake the last update was not finished. The game suffered from content archiving, onboarding issues, seasonal fatigue, uneven expansion, and a long-term sense that the game was becoming increasingly difficult to follow for anyone other than the most dedicated players.
At the same time, Sony acquired Bungie, which they knew. Destiny 2 was an aging live service game, which meant Sony also shouldered the responsibility of deciding what the future would look like after the release of The Final Shape. That expansion was the cleanest transition the franchise would ever have, as it wrapped up the story of Light and Darkness and gave Bungie a natural opportunity to move players from one era to the next. If Sony really believed fate It was still worth building, and that would have been the moment to protect your investment through greenlighting. Destiny 3Or at least it moves Bungie in a major new direction. fate A project with a clear future.
At least, what it would have done was what it would have provided. Destiny 2 Players would have remained committed to the game despite its flaws in anticipation of what was to come. After The Final Shape, many players felt: Destiny 2 We got to the point where it should have ended, but it was really only contextualized by what followed. The majority agreed on everything. Destiny 2 It was trying to achieve this after its final major expansion didn't do enough to create a future for live service games and resulted in dwindling player numbers. But if only they had known Destiny 3 Perhaps the content was enough to keep people interested because they probably knew the franchise had bigger long-term goals worth investing in.
Sony knowingly acquired Bungie. Destiny 2 was an aging live service game, which meant Sony also shouldered the responsibility of deciding what the future would look like after the release of The Final Shape.
This is the reason for the lack of reporting. Destiny 3 Green light is very important. According to a recent report, Bungie currently has Destiny 3 Or, certain other new projects have been approved. Destiny 2 Instead, the studio is expected to begin incubating future projects. Destiny 2 We will receive our final live service content update on June 9, 2026. This doesn't prove that Bungie has made an official announcement. Destiny 3 Sony denied this, but the next number is nonetheless: fate It seems the game wasn't approved in time to give the franchise a future.
Yes. Bungie's past decisions have helped: Destiny 2 at this location. Still, Sony had the opportunity to make a decision. fate's future was worth fighting for beyond the confines of aging live service games, and as it became known publicly, that wasn't an option. Destiny 3 It may have been the most obvious way to convince players. fate This was not a game that would be preserved after its most important years were already behind us, but a franchise that still had a future. Without it, it's hard to blame Bungie alone. Because ultimately, what future players needed was something that only Sony had the ability to finance.
- released
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August 28, 2017
- ESRB
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T For TEEN against blood, language and violence
