Development group Bungie has been growing through some very rough weeks, but efforts on games like Marathon have tried to be a bright spot for the company following the shutdown of Destiny 2. The latter game’s final live service update was a shock to some players, but others had seen the writing on the wall from the creative studio for quite some time. Additional bad news for Bungie spells even more danger for Marathon, whose status could match Destiny 2‘s based on how staff related to either game are being affected.
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Promising features for Marathon during its Season 2 update have helped that game’s players stay optimistic, as multiple patch notes addressed some key player complaints surrounding that extraction shooter. However, this could not detract from the end of service for Destiny 2, which took place on June 9, 2026, much to the protest of its large player base. This came after PlayStation reported huge impairment losses related to Bungie, with millions of dollars tied to the under-performing nature of Destiny 2 and Marathon after initial launches, updates, expansions, and more.
Destiny 2 & Marathon Developers Have Been Removed Following Massive Layoffs At Bungie
As of June 25, 2026, Bungie has seen nearly half of the entire studio laid off, with total individual layoffs ranging at around 400 people from some sources. This is a cataclysmic number of talented developers, directors, programmers, artists, and many others suddenly out of a job, representing an unsettling trend in the gaming industry right now. While unfortunately not the most surprising case related to layoffs in major studios, Bungie’s history has made this one feel even worse for a variety of fans.
This series of layoffs was done only a short time after Destiny 2 announced its shutdown, with PlayStation claiming that “a reduction was necessary to align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals.” Groups like Sony have claimed to work with Bungie’s leadership to prioritize resource demands within the PlayStation ecosystem, but players have been keenly aware at which in-studio groups are being impacted the most. Developers tied to both Destiny 2 and Marathon have been the target of these layoffs the most, with some stating that large portions of those teams have been cut entirely.
Although it’s impossible to know whether some of those laid off have been re-shuffled back into Bungie somewhere else, social media postings have suggested that many of those impacted are simply gone for good. There had been complaints against Bungie for Destiny 2 for quite a long time, but this response from Sony has been far larger than what anyone could have expected. At this point, even with other projects likely being worked on within Bungie, the loss of half its staff will change whatever comes out of the studio from this point forward.
Sony’s Plans To Realign The Studio’s Goals May Prevent Most Bungie Ongoing Games From Getting Support
At this point in time, Sony’s plans for Bungie are a complete unknown after the layoffs, leaving many worried about the status of its only remaining ongoing title — Marathon. With the studio’s willingness to shutdown Destiny 2 despite player outcry, Marathon is in a more dangerous position than ever after the huge staff losses seen at Bungie. Simply cutting one or two important members of Marathon‘s development team could influence how fast the game’s support and services are executed, but the larger reductions of staff recently could have far greater consequences.
Even if Marathon Season 2 performs well, Sony’s expectations for the game’s launch to be as big as Destiny or Destiny 2‘s could stunt what support they get in the future. The layoffs have already shown that Bungie is going through a massive restructure internally, so a harder look may be given to any of their projects under NDA. Since Marathon is the only ongoing game Bungie has after Destiny 2, there are likely conversations going on between PlayStation, Sony, and Bungie leadership about whether to end the game’s service or not in the coming months.
If Bungie’s only bad news was the shutdown of Destiny 2, Marathon had a greater chance at gaining ground, mainly due to it being the studio’s main focus by default at that point. The layoffs make things far more complicated, as people from various teams may now be understaffed to create new content for a potential Marathon Season 3, 4, or 5 if they’re lucky. The game’s updates are likely to be far slower now too, causing frustrated players to drop the game or others to fall off without new content to keep them interested.
This rapid decline in Bungie’s resources and manpower only spells disaster in the immediate future, with unannounced games facing cancellation too. Destiny 2 may only be the beginning of shutdowns we see from Bungie, especially as live service success declines from around the industry. For fans of Marathon, the layoffs should be one of the most troubling signs imaginable, as it could create a quick decline of support far faster than anyone expected.
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