It’s hard to believe that Destiny 2 is still in operation, roughly eight years after its launch, but with two publishers behind it, it’s still trucking along. Since being acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2022, though, more eyes have been looking at the company, and not just from a player perspective.
According to Sony’s new financial earnings report, the company is “recording impairment losses against a portion of Bungie’s intangible and other assets in connection with Destiny 2.” In short, this is essentially a sign that Bungie is coming in under expectations.
Sony Doesn’t Seem Happy With The Price They Paid For Bungie
They’re Still Working On Marathon
In the report, a roughly $204 million impairment loss is noted, which essentially factors into Sony’s valuation of Bungie as an investment. Sony CFO Lin Tao also weighed in to make the position more clear: “Regarding Destiny 2, partially due to the changes in the competitive environment, the level of sales and user engagement have not reached the expectations we had at the time of the acquisition of Bungie.”
As Reddit user Hawkmoona_Matata put it, “it basically shows that they aren’t as confident with their purchase as they previously were before.” While many people expected this from the inflated $3.6 billion sale to Sony, this is one of the first times the juggernaut of a publisher has openly stated this in a public manner.
User International_Low490 also notes the ongoing issues with Bungie and consumer trust: “They’ve been burning bridges for years now. Ain’t just recently. Goodwill has been eroding forever now from them. Every time they’ve bled more and more players who just decided not to come back.”
As someone who has played Destiny from the original alpha through roughly Lightfall, I can see that sentiment as clear as day. Eventually, players began to grow tired of the increasingly aggressive monetization of the game, amid the “vaulting” (i.e., deleting) of prior content to combat bloat. Something had to give. With Marathon in the pipeline, which has its own set of problems, things don’t look great for the studio at the current moment.
Many Games Are Eating Destiny 2’s Lunch Right Now
Bungie once had it made in the sun as Destiny and Destiny 2 stood out in a small group of live service shooters. Now it has to deal with a sea of them, including ones that offer similar PVP, PVE, or even PvPvE experiences, such as ARC Raiders. As many of those games continue to shoot up sales charts, Destiny 2 has stagnated in many circles.
While the jury is out on Bungie as a whole, Destiny 2 has had a wild ride since it debuted in 2017. Not all live service games can go on indefinitely, and with all of the missteps Destiny 2 has had, it’s a small miracle that it’s still here.
- Released
-
August 28, 2017
- ESRB
-
T For TEEN for Blood, Language, and Violence
- Engine
-
Tiger Engine
- Multiplayer
-
Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
-
PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
- Cross Save
-
yes
- Expansions
-
Destiny 2: Forsaken, Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, Destiny 2: Beyond Light, Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, Destiny 2: Lightfall