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[xBlueStonex]

Popular YouTuber Aztecross received a rather concerning email (starts at 4:35 in the video above) that highlighted internal leadership stuggles between Bungie and Sony from an inside source:

I'm writing this on a throwaway. Please use this info to corroborate other sources you may have.

Internal perspective at Sony is very negative towards Bungie right now. It is seen as a failed investment and strategies being discusses[sic] revolve around more of recouping losses. One internal leader from US is fighting to take over to right the ship, while many others across the Pacific want a much harsher method. The former US leader holds a lot of respect from overseas leadership, so it is likely (s)he will get their way. That person's perspective is that there are a many 'gluttonous' executives at Bungie who are not doing their jobs and are hindering the organization. It is believed that the workers are skilled, but the leadership is unable to perform their duties.

Bungie is in a hard spot, because pre-order numbers are lower than anticipated. I apologize, I do not have details on actual numbers. Sony believes that the finances will not allow Bungie to avoid a takeover even with another round of layoffs, as that would cannibalize development and future revenue.

Overall, Sony has been very upset at Bungie leadership. They have not been able to successfully advise Sony teams, and while Lightfall hit internal revenue targets, every target since has been missed at an escalating decline. Bungie leadership regularly reschedule meetings with Sony leadership, know that the next timeslot can be months away.

I hope this sheds light for ongoings from Sony's side. It is believed that the takeover would allow Sony to turn Destiny into a more profitable game. This sounds bad, but it is being treated as 'lightning in a bottle'. Sony leadership wants to nurture the game, and understand that more aggressive monetization would not be healthy. There would be a monetization model switch, though, as it is believed the current model is too confusing. The main difference between the US leader vs Japan leaders getting their way matters more for Bungie's in-development titles. If Japan leadership gets their way, teams for future titles will be gutted and reformed.

Definitely feels like it's time for Sony to bring down the hammer.

 

[Loxus]

I don't think this is a rumor to be honest.

 

[BosmerCulter]

No shit

 

[Nankatsu]

At the time seemed like a great acquisition, but I gotta stick with Sony on this on.

Destiny 2 has been around for too long.

 

[GymWolf]

No shit

And we are done.

 

[SJRB]

Even Bungie probably feels this way at this point, lol.

 

[Jose92]

Told you so

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Sony leadership is correct, I said a looooong time ago this was a colossal waste of money, PlayStation should sell them back to Xbox

 

[GHG]

Maybe next time don't waste money on purchasing companies full of bloated purple haired whales.

 

[AV]

Maybe have them make a game.

Destiny 2 is nearly 7 years old, dying, with nothing to replace it.

Edit: I know Marathon is coming out, but we have no idea when and yet another live service game isn't necessarily the best option here.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Sell them to Tencent lol.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Isn't this known already?

Sony should just take control over Bungie.

 

[Freeman76]

In other news water is wet and the sun is hot

 

[Fabieter]

Tell those individuals its the main reason why the struggle with profits rn and porting everything to all platforms wont save anything for sony.

 

[Fabieter]

Sony leadership is correct, I said a looooong time ago this was a colossal waste of money, PlayStation should sell them back to Xbox

They sure would if they would close to what they paid for.

 

[Robb]

PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan Says Bungie Offers ‘Way More’ Value Than Activision Does for Xbox

Narrator: It didn’t.

 

[LectureMaster]

Supporting Japan Studio

Buying the most woke studio in Bellevue

 

[Pelta88]

Email reads like Destiny community fan fiction. Posted by a YouTuber with a history of pushing negative stories about Bungie.

 

[Dr. Acid Avatar]

Let's revisit this when they actually ship a new game and not an expansion to a seven year old game.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Supporting Japan Studio

Buying Bungie

All Bungie needs is new leadership.

 

[dreamstation]

Yea I could have told you that before you bought them and saved you a heap of dough

 

[Fabieter]

Let's revisit this when they actually ship a new game and not an expansion to a seven year old game.

Let's revisit this if they actually ship a new game and not an expansion to a seven year old game.

Ftfy

 

[balls of snow]

Sell them to Tencent lol.

Sell them back to microsoft.

 

[Luipadre]

You dont say. Everybody thought that when they announced the deal.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

The deal came after Microsoft had bought Zenimax for $7.5bn, and at the time, everyone thought that was a lot of money, but Microsoft got Fallout, Doom, Etc.

When Sony bought Bungie they paid roughly half what Microsoft paid but all they got was Destiny. By that time Destiny felt like old hat to me (I wasn't much of a fan ever though) but I knew people played it. By now, it seems like nobody I know plays it, and I rarely see it mentioned on forums, etc.

It kinda doesn't surprise me that there's some disappointment with Bungie, but I guess they have another game in development at the moment so maybe that will improve their fortunes.

I wonder if this is just another example of returns not managing to cover costs as gaming continues to seemingly be going through some kind of rebalancing.

 

[Hudo]

This is one of the very few instances where I wish Sony management would interfere and get Bungie back on track. Let them return to what their strength was before Bungie fucked themselves every time after leaving Microsoft. Make cool FPS campaigns with a solid mulitplayer mode.

Fuck Destiny and fuck what they're about to do to Marathon.

 

[Physiognomonics]

The definition of GAAS a failed investment? Who is the culprit?

 

[Mr Hyde]

I agree. An absolute waste of money. They don't fit in with PS studios at all and right now they just feel like an anchor around Sonys neck. Sell them off and when you're at it get rid of Hermen too in the process. This shit is on him.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

Maybe have them make a game.

Destiny 2 is nearly 7 years old, dying, with nothing to replace it.

Edit: I know Marathon is coming out, but we have no idea when and yet another live service game isn't necessarily the best option here.

2025 date has been announced. Bungie's future fate lies with Marathon. But for a Studio that has around 1200 employees, which is nearly double the size of Sony's 2nd biggest studio(Insomniac), it is becoming a gigantic sinkhole when currently only Destiny is paying the bills

 

[cireza]

At the time seemed like a great acquisition

Always looked like a bad move IMHO. It wasn't worth the price at all.

 

[killatopak]

I told you Jim. gaas is bad.

 

[Kerotan]

Tbf Destiny 2 is near the end. One more expansion in August and it's wrapped up. The return on invest really depends on how successful their next project is.

 

[GHG]

This is one of the very few instances where I wish Sony management would interfere and get Bungie back on track. Let them return to what their strength was before Bungie fucked themselves every time after leaving Microsoft. Make cool FPS campaigns with a solid mulitplayer mode.

Fuck Destiny and fuck what they're about to do to Marathon.

Yep, the moment I saw what they were doing to Marathon I knew they were a lost cause.

It's disgraceful to shit all over a legacy IP like that, and it shows the current group of people working at the studio don't have a clue.

 

[OverHeat]

Bungie...how the mighty have fallen

 

[MrRibeye]

And their other studios asked Bungie for advice on how to develop games

 

[tamago84]

Whats a bungie

 

[CoreyFlawless]

After all these years, wasn’t M$ or activision take would take bungie and destroy them. Gonna look like Sony. Who would had guess that 10 years ago

 

[kazuyamishima]

Supporting Japan Studio

Buying the most woke studio in Bellevue

“Fans” didn’t support Japan Studio when they were releasing games and now they want them back, really?

 

[lh032]

Call me crazy but Sony should sell bungie to Microsoft

 

[Ribi]

Bungie has done jack since and didn't deserve to be bought. Half assed product making that the sheep clung to like marvel fans

 

[Spyxos]

Surprised pikachu face.gif

 

[BennyBlanco]

Bungie will negotiate their independence by the end of this year and get bought again by Tencent or Saudis by this time next year, book it

 

[YOU PC BRO?!]

How can Bungie be a bad investment if they haven't released an actual exclusive game yet? Its a little premature to start talking about the studio being a bad investment when they have only been with Sony for less than 2 years. We know that they will be releasing Marathon and also that there is a new IP in development known as 'Matter'. If Bungie fails to release more than a single new game before the end of the generation then we can have the bad investment conversation, until then lets wait and see.

 

[Spyxos]

Call me crazy but Sony should sell bungie to Microsoft

Nobody wants them in their current state, and they are also completely overpriced.

 

[abstract alien]

Return on investment is a thing, so how much does Bungie bring in compared to how much they cost...

 

[Shifty1897]

Everything is riding on Marathon at this point. If Marathon flops, Sony's gonna sell them to the Saudis.

 

[mansoor1980]

career moment for jim and hermen

 

[clarky]

How can Bungie be a bad investment if they haven't released an actual exclusive game yet? Its a little premature to start talking about the studio being a bad investment when they have only been with Sony for less than 2 years. We know that they will be releasing Marathon and also that there is a new IP in development known as 'Matter'. If Bungie fails to release more than a single new game before the end of the generation then we can have the bad investment conversation, until then lets wait and see.

I thought Matter got canned or was turned into Marathon, which is the only title in development apart from that mobile game Gummy bears.

Edit: Matter did get "cancelled" but was not the same project as Marathon. So it will be one new game before the end of this Generation, if they are lucky.

 

[crackajack]

In theory I would think Sony buying someone with focus on Egoshooters and GaaS makes perfect sense since that's something they never really succeded in and in the latter area want to ramp up quite a bit. But the price tag compared to the Insomniac or Bethesda one was just insane. Destiny certainly had its time, but wasn't like Minecraft anymore already then. So unless Marathon isn't looking mighty fine and their outside consultant work not worth a dime, it was probably a failed investment.

 

[Spyxos]

And their other studios asked Bungie for advice on how to develop games

Yes, and thanks to Bungie, Last of us Factions was canceled... The game was probably fine, but you couldn't turn it into a microtransaction hell like Destiny 2 is right now.