If Marathon Fails, What Happens to Bungie?

Bungie might be in trouble if Marathon doesn’t become a bigger hit for Sony. The extraction shooter has brought in plenty of gamers across multiple platforms, even if it hasn’t shaken the world of gaming in the way that Sony was hoping for. Instead, the greater focus among Bungie fans lately has been the fallout of Destiny 2 being sunsetted with little warning, infuriating players who had been playing that game for almost a decade.

This only complicates the underlying issues that Bungie is facing at the moment. Marathon is currently their only game on the market, meaning a lot of pressure is on the game to succeed and further justify Sony’s continued support for the developer. If it fails, then some insiders and former members of the Bungie team fear for the future of the company.

Marathon Might Be Make-Or-Break For Bungie

As reported by Windows Central, former Bungie Community Manager Liana Ruppert has been posting to social media, claiming that it was company leadership that didn’t support Destiny and not Marathon’s fault that the game was pulled. That hasn’t stopped the fan bases for both games from arguing recently, something that Ruppert is trying to keep from escalating by arguing it only hurts Bungie in the long run if the potential fan base isn’t supporting the studio. In fact, Ruppert believes that Marathon needs to succeed for Bungie to stay relevant and open. Without the game getting continued support from players across various platforms, Sony could look at Bungie as a weak investment and decide against supporting their next games.

Half the community is going to hate me for saying this, but the only way to keep Bungie alive right now is to support Marathon. People keep comparing Marathon numbers to Destiny and frankly, that's ignorant. Marathon was never designed to do Bungie numbers. The conversations…

— Liana Ruppert ➡️ GCX (@DirtyEffinHippy) June 12, 2026

In defending Marathon, Ruppert notes that Marathon is very much its own thing and can’t necessarily be compared to Destiny 2. It’s not a bad argument — Marathon is a different type of game and online environment than Destiny 2, with different expectations for consistent players. It’s possible that the game is actually achieving the kind of engagement that Sony needs from it — even while, as reported by Forbes, rumors and reliable sources debate over whether Sony ended support for Destiny as revenge for their previous live-service struggles or if it was entirely a financial situation. It’s possible that it’s simply more affordable to support Marathon and generate revenue from a new title rather than rely on the vast world of Destiny 2 to draw in new players. However, it also feels frustrating for fans who spent years invested in that world, explaining why many of them may have not made their way to Marathon in part due to frustration over Destiny.

Bungie Needs To Get More People Into Marathon

The problem for Marathon is that it’s fighting an uphill battle. The game has developed a solid player base, but efforts to expand it through free weekends or seasonal updates have failed to increase the player population by any notable metrics. This isn’t helped by Bungie’s decision to halt support for Destiny 2. The surprising nature of that development, despite ambitions by the team to continue delivering support for the game, has angered the enduring fan base that the game had developed.

It’s also notable that the player count for Destiny 2 exceeded that of Marathon, suggesting that players using that game haven’t been making the transition to the new game that Bungie and Sony were likely hoping for. Marathon is now currently the only Bungie game actively on the market. Sony has confirmed that they’ll continue supporting the game for the foreseeable future, but that does raise questions about what could happen after Marathon runs its course. It’s possible that Sony continues to support the game until then but doesn’t put more investment into the developer, leaving it to either be repurposed in the company, sold to another buyer, or closed at a future date.

That’s certainly the fear at the moment, especially as Sony’s rivals at Microsoft have been doing something similar to studios that haven’t been meeting their expected returns. If Sony decides to take a similar approach, it’s not hard to imagine even storied companies like Bungie being put on the chopping block. If Bungie wants to survive, it needs to make Marathon a more enticing game. Even if it doesn’t hit Destiny numbers, that isn’t necessarily a cause for alarm.

As explained by Ruppert, Marathon just has to do well enough to keep Sony happy, ensuring that they get to continue developing games and making new material until they are able to knock out another Destiny or Halo-level hit. The worry is simply that the current state of the industry doesn’t leave much room for the kind of patience to allow a game to fully evolve into a hit if it isn’t one right out the gate. Marathon is at least being given enough of a runway to try and pick up momentum, but it’s very worrisome to imagine the future of the studio if they aren’t able to make Marathon a worthwhile investment.