Trouble started brewing for Bungie and its flagship sci-fi shooter Destiny 2 around the time of last summer’s The Final Shape expansion, which sources say underperformed. The studio reportedly decided to pull the plug “earlier this year” after abandoning plans to relaunch the franchise as “Destiny Infinity.”
Forbes reported that the Sony-owned studio started weighing various scenarios for “what the future of Destiny 2 would look like” following Episode: Revenant, an expansion that “did even worse [than The Final Shape] and didn’t change sales or retention trajectory.” Forbes broke the story.
Destiny Infinity would have marked a franchise relaunch paired with a return to the single large expansion model the series originally followed. That concept lost steam after insiders claimed the costs and risks proved too steep, particularly given the need to support Marathon.
A third Destiny installment “was considered, as ever, but things didn’t swing that way,” according to the reporting. No behind-the-scenes signals have emerged pointing to Destiny 3, with production costs flagged as the central obstacle. Notably, Marathon’s performance, whether it succeeds or falters, was reportedly “not the tipping point of all of this.”
These details surfaced one week after Bungie confirmed it would stop content updates for its live service shooter on June 9, almost nine years after the game first launched. The studio, known for creating Halo and recently releasing extraction shooter Marathon, stated that Destiny 2 will stay playable even though active development is winding down.
The original Destiny debuted on September 9, 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It became a massive commercial hit, though critics delivered mixed reviews. Under a prominent publishing agreement with Activision, the Call of Duty publisher, Destiny received a steady stream of expansions and updates.
Destiny 2 arrived on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One September 6, 2017, with PC players getting access roughly one month afterward. Behind closed doors, friction developed between Bungie and Activision, and the two firms formally split in January 2019, terminating their 10-year publishing arrangement five years ahead of schedule.
Once Destiny was fully under its control, Bungie self-published the title. Financial hardship and workforce reductions still followed as Destiny 2 expansions missed expectations and the player community shrank. Sony acquired Bungie in early 2022 in a transaction worth approximately $3.6 billion, though the company has since acknowledged the purchase has not yielded returns. Sony recently logged a $765 million impairment loss tied specifically to Bungie’s underperformance.
Marathon, the extraction shooter, has faced repeated delays and has not yet launched as of late May 2026. The project has reportedly carried substantial development costs, though no verified budget figure has been disclosed.
Devoted Destiny players, upset by Bungie’s move to abandon the franchise, are organizing an effort to demonstrate sustained demand remains strong. Fans of the game have voiced growing concerns as Bungie moves to end support, and one player laid out plans in a detailed reddit thread. User w1nds0r urged every Destiny player to log back in on June 9, when the final content update drops.
“We need to at least smash Marathon’s all time high to show them they made the wrong decision.”
w1nds0r argued this would demonstrate to Sony that Destiny remains “a franchise worth continuing to invest in… It’s our last chance to send a message the franchise is still valuable.” Marathon has not yet released, so no verified player count data is available.
Find the original reporting at Forbes.
