In accordance with a brand new report from Bloomberg, Bungie is going through “important” layoffs within the close to future and Future 3 is now not being actively developed. This comes hours after Bungie confirmed that it’ll finish assist for Future 2 after the subsequent replace, scheduled for launch in June.
Some worry this bodes badly for Bungie’s future, as Future 2 is its hottest energetic sport. In accordance with Bloomberg, Bungie management thought of methods to make Future 2 extra accessible to new gamers, however in the end determined to go along with the marathon, shifting builders and assets to the extraction shooter.
Bungie reportedly plans to proceed pitching concepts within the Future universe, however as a consequence of a troublesome market and financial issues, there isn’t any assure that full manufacturing can be greenlit. Bungie at present has no plans for some other video games and has no plans to start improvement on Future 3 right now. For now, Marathon stays Bungie’s focus, with the studio hoping to extend participant numbers following a disappointing launch.
Bungie lately outlined its future plans for Marathon, confirming that it is going to be including new PvE content material that can attraction to gamers who aren’t taken with PvP or extraction gameplay. We’re additionally engaged on enhancing the onboarding expertise to make the sport much less intimidating for newcomers. At this level, it stays to be seen how efficient this can be, nevertheless it’s clear that Bungie is not giving up simply but.
Sony acquired Bungie in 2022, however sadly the outcomes haven’t but come to fruition. The studio was acquired as a part of PlayStation’s efforts to supply extra stay companies. Bungie additionally consulted on different PlayStation tasks, together with The Final of Us On-line, which was later canceled following suggestions from Bungie. Future’s builders instructed Naughty Canine what it might take to create and assist a stay service sport, and Naughty Canine ended up pulling out of the venture. Future 2 additionally failed to satisfy Sony’s expectations, leading to an impairment lack of $204 in 2025. Equally, poor gross sales of the Marathon precipitated Sony to take a $765 million impairment loss.
Sony has additionally proven that it isn’t afraid to interrupt up and even shut down whole studios, because it did with Blue Level earlier this 12 months. The developer is greatest identified for his work remastering/remaking basic video games, and was anticipated to proceed doing comparable work for PlayStation. Sadly, the studio closed down with out ever releasing a single sport as a first-party PlayStation studio. Followers hope Bungie does not undergo the identical destiny, particularly contemplating the expertise and legacy the studio has.
Cade Onder is a freelancer on videogameaddicted’s information crew. Covers all facets of leisure, together with video games and films. You could find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.