Before you place all the blame on Sony, former Destiny 2 CM says Bungie was 'very close to shutting its doors' before the buyout

Before You Place All the Blame on Sony, Former Destiny 2 Community Manager Says Bungie Was 'Very Close to Shutting Its Doors'

Before the final update of Destiny 2 and the end of This Week In Destiny, a long-running tradition for many fans, the gaming world was left to ponder what went wrong with the franchise. While many have pointed fingers at Sony for its decision to pull the plug on Bungie's looter shooter, the story isn’t quite as simple as it seems. In fact, a former community manager has claimed that Bungie was in a dire situation before the $3.6 billion acquisition by Sony in 2022.

According to Liana Ruppert, a former Destiny 2 community manager, Bungie was already struggling before the acquisition. “This fight was pre-Sony,” she stated on social media. “Bungie was below the red line before the Sony acquisition. If it wasn’t acquired right then, the studio was very close to shutting its doors at the very least on Destiny. It was an emergency acquisition.”

Bungie’s Struggles Were Visible Long Before the Acquisition

From an outsider’s perspective, the challenges facing Bungie were evident well before the acquisition. The studio had already split from Activision in 2019, choosing to self-publish Destiny 2 as an MMO-lite experience. However, over the years, Bungie faced several challenges, including changes to content delivery, microtransactions, and pricing models. These shifts, combined with a declining player base and layoffs, left the studio in a precarious position.

It’s no surprise, then, that Bungie was actively seeking a new partnership to keep the lights on. The result was Sony stepping in with a $3.6 billion acquisition. Yet, despite this financial backing, the numbers haven’t quite worked out. In fact, just last month, Sony reported a $766 million impairment loss against Bungie for the 2025 financial year — a painful blow given the underperformance of both Destiny 2 and Marathon.

A Final Update and a Fan Petition

Despite the setbacks, Destiny 2’s final update has managed to boost player counts for now. Fans are still hopeful, with a petition asking Sony to greenlight Destiny 3 gaining traction. While the future of the franchise remains uncertain, the idea of a Destiny Infinity project — a concept proposed to save the series — still holds some potential.

For now, the Destiny universe remains in limbo, but the story behind its decline is far more complex than a single company’s decision.