{"id":1127,"date":"2026-06-12T11:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T10:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/12\/destiny-2-and-bungie-as-a-whole-were-very-close-to-closing-before-sony-buyout-according-to-ex-community-lead-it-was-an-emergency-acquisition\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T11:09:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T10:09:00","slug":"destiny-2-and-bungie-as-a-whole-were-very-close-to-closing-before-sony-buyout-according-to-ex-community-lead-it-was-an-emergency-acquisition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/12\/destiny-2-and-bungie-as-a-whole-were-very-close-to-closing-before-sony-buyout-according-to-ex-community-lead-it-was-an-emergency-acquisition\/","title":{"rendered":"Destiny 2 and Bungie as a whole were &#8220;very close&#8221; to closing before Sony buyout, according to ex-community lead: &#8220;It was an emergency acquisition&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"elk-19429a58-68f4-4ae7-a641-9b5c0158c8ff\">Major updates for Destiny 2 are now officially over, but the game and <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/uk\/tag\/bungie\/\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/uk\/tag\/bungie\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/uk\/tag\/bungie\/\">Bungie<\/a> in its entirety were allegedly close to shutting down for good years earlier. According to a former community lead who used to work at the storied Destiny developer, <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/uk\/tag\/sony\/\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/uk\/tag\/sony\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/uk\/tag\/sony\/\">Sony<\/a>&#8216;s $3.6 billion buyout was the corporate equivalent of deploying a parachute seconds before hitting the ground.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Bungie was below the red line before the Sony acquisition,&#8221; ex-community manager, Liana Ruppert, <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DirtyEffinHippy\/status\/2065249079744164345?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DirtyEffinHippy\/status\/2065249079744164345?s=20\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\">claims <\/a>on social media. &#8220;If it wasn&#8217;t acquired right then, the studio was very close to shutting its doors at the very least on Destiny. It was an emergency acquisition.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-root\"\/>\n<p id=\"elk-19429a58-68f4-4ae7-a641-9b5c0158c8ff-2\">The Destiny and Marathon maker had split from its ex-publishing partner <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/uk\/tag\/activision\/\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/uk\/tag\/activision\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/uk\/tag\/activision\/\">Activision<\/a> a few years before its eventual 2022 acquisition, and I imagine self-publishing an MMO that grand and expansive wasn&#8217;t a cheap undertaking. However, Bungie being in such scorching hot water at the time is somewhat surprising.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-6 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-[10px] lg:my-8\" data-component-name=\"JwPlayer:Carousel\" data-jwp-carousel=\"\" data-jwp-carousel-payload=\"{&quot;ids&quot;:{&quot;playerID&quot;:&quot;0SRhEcng&quot;,&quot;searchPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;Irbe0LwM&quot;,&quot;divID&quot;:&quot;botr_Irbe0LwM_0SRhEcng_div&quot;,&quot;fallbackPlaylistID&quot;:&quot;bOTdLUGA&quot;,&quot;fallbackDivID&quot;:&quot;botr_bOTdLUGA_0SRhEcng_div&quot;,&quot;key&quot;:&quot;Ld6aVtD9fPJ4aBQnv6LOGQGu7L2Hq4xGja5LUwPV6j+es5u8&quot;,&quot;tintLogo&quot;:true,&quot;useSearchPlaylist&quot;:false,&quot;enabled&quot;:true},&quot;signPostingEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;signPostingLinkEnabled&quot;:true,&quot;waitForAdLoad&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnDesktop&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnMobile&quot;:false,&quot;hidePlayerOnTablet&quot;:false}\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-nowrap items-center justify-between gap-3 bg-zinc-900 px-[14px] py-3\" data-jwp-carousel-header=\"\">\n<div class=\"flex min-w-0 shrink items-center\"><span class=\"inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 text-sm font-article-heading capitalize leading-5 text-white whitespace-nowrap\"><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-mobile\"\/><span class=\"jwp-carousel-title-desktop\">Latest Videos From<\/span><span class=\"jwp-carousel-brand inline-flex items-center\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"aspect-video w-full min-h-[200px] lg:min-h-[330px] relative overflow-hidden bg-black\" data-jwp-carousel-container=\"\">\n<div class=\"absolute inset-0 size-full items-center justify-center bg-white\" data-jwp-carousel-fallback=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/l3fqzehadb1768907286.svg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/l3fqzehadb1768907286.svg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/l3fqzehadb1768907286.svg\" class=\"rounded-[var(--image--border-radius,0)] max-h-12 w-auto\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Destiny 2: Beyond Light, the expansion that preceded Sony&#8217;s acquisition, was seemingly a <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/mein-mmo.de\/en\/the-launch-of-destiny-2-beyond-light-was-extremely-rocky-but-also-very-successful,615067\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/mein-mmo.de\/en\/the-launch-of-destiny-2-beyond-light-was-extremely-rocky-but-also-very-successful,615067\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\">huge boon<\/a> for the game, and pre-orders for its next expansion, The Witch Queen, hit <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/destinythegame\/status\/1488520018170101760\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/x.com\/destinythegame\/status\/1488520018170101760\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\">record highs<\/a>. Player counts were also more or less consistent at the time, as well \u2013 or, at least, they were in comparison to how the game&#8217;s been performing recently \u2013 according to <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/steamdb.info\/app\/1085660\/charts\/#max\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/steamdb.info\/app\/1085660\/charts\/#max\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\">SteamDB<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Big shakeups are happening in the tech and gaming space \u2013 I&#8217;m not going to say what I think is going to happen because it really doesn&#8217;t matter what I think to be honest, but I still see the community from the CM lens and the Marathon community is eating good,&#8221; Ruppert adds. &#8220;Just remember how everything caught you by surprise, it&#8217;s a humble reminder that the public really does have no idea what&#8217;s going on (this applies to all studios).<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-3 pb-4 mb-4 border-solid border-y border-neutral-300\">\n        <span class=\"font-article-heading block pb-3 !text-base font-bold uppercase sm:text-sm text-[#333]\"><br \/>\n            You may like<br \/>\n        <\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&#8220;As somebody that knows exactly how that struggle can be the best thing you can do is support the studio in a way that feels good for you and learn tools to help you catch yourself when you feel like you&#8217;re getting a little in the heavy side of thinking about things that you can&#8217;t see or control so you don&#8217;t kill the player passion inside of you. We have a lot of players that the passion died and they kept only going because it was feasible to do so, but passionless discourse is just noise.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sony gave the iconic hit maker independence for a while post-acquisition, seemingly in the hopes that Bungie could help the publisher push out more live-service success stories. The company <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/fps\/playstation-is-still-continuing-to-invest-in-new-live-services-and-has-reviewed-our-processes-following-concords-failure\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/fps\/playstation-is-still-continuing-to-invest-in-new-live-services-and-has-reviewed-our-processes-following-concords-failure\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/fps\/playstation-is-still-continuing-to-invest-in-new-live-services-and-has-reviewed-our-processes-following-concords-failure\/\">seemed a bit cooler<\/a> on Bungie a couple of years after, and has more recently <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/fps\/sony-reports-usd765-million-impairment-loss-on-marathon-and-destiny-2-studio-bungie-for-the-last-financial-year-after-paying-usd3-6-billion-for-it-in-2022\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/fps\/sony-reports-usd765-million-impairment-loss-on-marathon-and-destiny-2-studio-bungie-for-the-last-financial-year-after-paying-usd3-6-billion-for-it-in-2022\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/fps\/sony-reports-usd765-million-impairment-loss-on-marathon-and-destiny-2-studio-bungie-for-the-last-financial-year-after-paying-usd3-6-billion-for-it-in-2022\/\">reported a $765 million impairment loss on the studio<\/a> in the last financial year following its Marathon launch.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-GsN44S2cCgGT97hYfv6hKZ\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-GsN44S2cCgGT97hYfv6hKZ slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Bungie is now apparently in the process of pitching a new game <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/destiny\/destiny-3-isnt-in-active-development-report-says-and-bungie-has-no-greenlit-projects-with-layoffs-to-come-as-attention-shifts-to-marathon\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/destiny\/destiny-3-isnt-in-active-development-report-says-and-bungie-has-no-greenlit-projects-with-layoffs-to-come-as-attention-shifts-to-marathon\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/destiny\/destiny-3-isnt-in-active-development-report-says-and-bungie-has-no-greenlit-projects-with-layoffs-to-come-as-attention-shifts-to-marathon\/\">with no Destiny 3 in sight<\/a> and layoffs planned, according to a <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-05-21\/bungie-plans-layoffs-after-ending-destiny-2-development?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3OTQwNTI3OSwiZXhwIjoxNzgwMDEwMDc5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJURkVUVjJLSUpIOTIwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.atbS1PFknTC7XBSdrUHEMV1jz4pw1lfmIX0rGjUFbRs&amp;leadSource=uverify%20wall\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-05-21\/bungie-plans-layoffs-after-ending-destiny-2-development?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc3OTQwNTI3OSwiZXhwIjoxNzgwMDEwMDc5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJURkVUVjJLSUpIOTIwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.atbS1PFknTC7XBSdrUHEMV1jz4pw1lfmIX0rGjUFbRs&amp;leadSource=uverify%20wall\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\">Bloomberg report<\/a>. Here&#8217;s hoping the affected staff can land on their feet \u2013 especially since <a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/destiny\/destiny-2-hasnt-had-this-many-players-in-years-fans-flood-the-servers-as-final-update-sends-bungies-mmo-off-into-the-sunset\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/destiny\/destiny-2-hasnt-had-this-many-players-in-years-fans-flood-the-servers-as-final-update-sends-bungies-mmo-off-into-the-sunset\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/destiny\/destiny-2-hasnt-had-this-many-players-in-years-fans-flood-the-servers-as-final-update-sends-bungies-mmo-off-into-the-sunset\/\">Destiny 2&#8217;s final update has been a home run<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em\/><a target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/destiny\/i-am-utterly-livid-destiny-2-lore-master-says-secret-scene-reveals-the-potential-that-was-ahead-before-the-game-abruptly-ended\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/destiny\/i-am-utterly-livid-destiny-2-lore-master-says-secret-scene-reveals-the-potential-that-was-ahead-before-the-game-abruptly-ended\/\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/destiny\/i-am-utterly-livid-destiny-2-lore-master-says-secret-scene-reveals-the-potential-that-was-ahead-before-the-game-abruptly-ended\/\"><em>&#8220;I am utterly livid&#8221;: Destiny 2 lore master says secret scene reveals &#8220;the potential that was ahead&#8221; before the game abruptly ended.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/destiny\/destiny-2-and-bungie-as-a-whole-were-very-close-to-closing-before-sony-buyout-according-to-ex-community-lead-it-was-an-emergency-acquisition\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Major updates for Destiny 2 are now officially over, but the game and Bungie in its entirety were allegedly close to shutting down for good years earlier. According to a former community lead who used to work at the storied Destiny developer, Sony&#8216;s $3.6 billion buyout was the corporate equivalent of deploying a parachute seconds [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/xrbT7utkaeJA2TrEmuZizJ-1920-80.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2363,2045,2360,2358,2359,1423,2362,2361,62,1941],"class_list":["post-1127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming","tag-acquisition","tag-bungie","tag-buyout","tag-close","tag-closing","tag-destiny","tag-emergency","tag-excommunity","tag-lead","tag-sony"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}