Today, there is still talk of Sony’s purchase of Bungie, which cost 3.6 billion dollars. Since then, many negative things have happened within the studio, such as the dismissal of hundreds of Bungie developers and the release of the Eclipse and The Final Form expansions in Destiny 2. The FPS MMO has gone through tough times, but it seems there is a bright future ahead for the shooter, and a former Bungie lawyer has commented that this is due to the management done by Sony.
Don McGowan, former legal director of Bungie, has spoken on LinkedIn about the current situation of the studio and how Sony’s actions could help Destiny 2 remain profitable in the long run by implementing a more dynamic business model focused on offering two medium-sized expansions annually and free updates starting in 2025. “As much as it hurts me to say this, it seems that the fact that Sony has imposed some discipline on my former colleagues may have forced them to fix the things that were wrong with their game,” he says.
“To be clear: I’m not talking about the layoffs, I’m talking about forcing them to get their heads out of their asses and focus on things like: implementing a method of acquiring new players; not just doing fan service for Bungie’s top fans; and managing the game as a business. I’m glad to. I still have friends in that environment and I would like them to keep their jobs,” McGowan explains about Bungie.
“This is the future I thought Bungie should embrace”
The legal expert also reflects on how some Bungie employees misinterpreted the purchase, thinking that Sony would not influence the studio’s decision-making, when in reality it seems to have played a significant role in adopting its current strategy of minor expansions and free updates. The goal is to attract new players and be sustainable in the long term, ensuring continuous income and the viability of the game as a business.
Despite the opinion of the company’s former lawyer, a former Bungie developer said that “Sony overpaid for Bungie” after the 3.6 billion dollars. “This is the future I thought the company should embrace after Sony’s acquisition: a studio, not an ‘independent company’. But there were many egos for whom it was important to pretend that ‘nothing would change’,” he points out and confirms that PlayStation knew that sooner or later it had to intervene in Bungie’s management to reorganize the business around Destiny 2.
“I remember sitting there during the deal saying, ‘Do you think Sony describes this as they are going to pay 3.6 billion dollars for the right to have nothing to do with what Bungie does?’ That is exactly what many people thought. I guess they have been given reasons to understand that things don’t work that way,” he recalls. While some think “Sony saved Bungie,” there are still former developers upset with the studio’s management as they demanded the removal of CEO, Pete Parsons.
“The changes described in this article (a news from Kotaku about the long-term modifications to Destiny 2) are the things you do to manage a franchise, not to continue making the game that you and your friends have mastered, or to chase trends,” concludes his post on LinkedIn (via The Game Spot). While a few days ago we reported that Destiny 2 was at its most critical point in terms of players on Steam, Bungie has committed to the sci-fi FPS to ensure a successful future, something that Sony has had a lot to do with, at least according to McGowan’s words.
In the future, we will see if this new business model for Destiny 2 has yielded the results that PlayStation expects. We must not forget Marathon, Bungie’s next big game, which is rumored to have some production issues, as popular journalist Jason Schreier commented weeks ago. It is also worth mentioning that the executive who was supposed to lead Marathon has been fired for inappropriate treatment of lower-ranking female employees. So far, it is known that Marathon, a PvP extraction shooter, will be released in 2025, and more news about this FPS is expected to be released in the coming months.
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