December 2023 is when I gave up on Destiny 2, a decision I haven't regretted. Did it help usher in the change I was hoping for? Not really, no... Sony didn't take the nuclear option and flush the Bungie board (doubtless thinking of the lawsuits that would be sure to follow), but rather allowed the then-head of the board to cash out, without replacing him. In the meantime, Sony basically absorbed everything from Bungie except their Destiny and Marathon teams, then watched as Destiny staggered about without sufficient support or focus, pinning their hopes on Marathon instead. As of this writing, that looks to be a poor decision, with Sony having to write down some of the value of their Bungie acquisition after Marathon finally launched to a tepid market response.
At any rate, the game looks to be up for Destiny. The current game has been announced to be getting its last update next month, after which it will be in maintenance mode, just like the last game. It's always possible that Bungie could be thinking in terms of prepping a Destiny 3, but current leaks make that look unlikely at best. Rather, there's likely to be layoffs after that last patch comes out, with maybe some lucky survivors getting yeeted over to the Marathon team.
I feel for the Destiny team members, truly. There's never a good time to be laid off, but these days are amazingly bad. Still, Marathon doesn't strike me as my sort of fare, and, even if it were, there's still at least one lingering board member there from before Sony's takeover, so I'm still not getting involved in anything Bungie for the time being. At this point, it's almost with clinical detachment that I'm keeping an eye on Bungie's future. Will they somehow parlay Marathon into something that will reverse the company's fortunes, or will Sony eventually absorb the remnants, and squirrel away its IP? I know which path I'm seeing as likely.
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