Bungie is laying off a significant number of employees, with the cuts hitting most of the Destiny 2 team and a portion of the Marathon team. PlayStation CEO Hermen Hulst confirmed the news in a public statement, describing the decision as "difficult" and "painful" but necessary to align the studio with its current priorities.
What studio leaders actually said
Bungie's own statement did not soften the blow. Studio leadership acknowledged directly that "Destiny 2 fell short of expectations these past several years." Following the game's final content update, and with future projects still in early development, the studio said it "could not continue operating at our previous size."
That's a remarkably candid admission. Bungie didn't frame this as a restructuring opportunity or a strategic pivot. They called it what it is: the game didn't perform, and people are losing their jobs because of it.
Hulst's statement added that "multiple alternatives" were explored before layoffs were finalized, though no specifics were offered on what those alternatives looked like.
How Bungie got here
Sony acquired Bungie in 2022 for $3.6 billion, at a point when Destiny 2 was still pulling strong numbers and live-service games looked like the future of PlayStation's portfolio. That strategy has since reversed sharply, and Destiny 2's player numbers declined steadily in the years that followed.
Bungie had approximately 850 staff as of 2024, with a large portion working on the Destiny franchise. The studio quietly ended new Destiny 2 content earlier this year, with no expansion or sequel announced to replace it. A reported internal discussion around relaunching the franchise under the name Destiny Infinity was ultimately shelved.
Marathon, Bungie's extraction shooter, launched and has completed two seasons. Hulst described it as "an important part of our portfolio" and indicated the remaining team will continue building on it while also working on early-stage projects. The key here is that Marathon now appears to be Bungie's entire near-term future, not just one of several active games.
What this means for players still in the game
For Guardians still logging in, the situation is straightforward: Destiny 2 is no longer receiving new content. The final update has shipped. There are no expansions, no seasonal arcs, and no Destiny 3 on the horizon.
The layoffs also affect a smaller number of PlayStation's own staff whose roles were tied to supporting Bungie's operations, which signals how deeply this reorganization runs across the parent company's structure.
If you're still playing through the existing content, the Destiny 2 guides collection has everything you need to get the most out of what's already in the game, including exotic weapon quests and the latest update breakdowns.
The only path forward for the studio, as some former Bungie staff have publicly stated, runs through Marathon. Whether that game can carry the weight of an entire studio's future is the question nobody at Bungie can answer yet. Players who want to stay connected to what Bungie builds next will be watching Marathon's upcoming seasons closely.
