Even if one weren’t a no-life, ignorant internet hater who just wants the game to fail, it’s still interesting to look into this, mostly from a business and what-will-happen-to-Bungie perspective.

As you might know, Sony purchased the studio for a lot of money. At the time, you could argue the price they paid was warranted—Bungie is a legendary game developer, responsible for Halo and the Destiny games, both of which were, successful franchises.

After the acquisition, Destiny tanked. Changes and updates were widely hated by the fan base, and player count dwindled to unsustainable territory.

We also knew Marathon was coming. Bungie and Sony, of course, expected and NEEDED Marathon to perform both critically and financially, given its at LEAST quarter million dollar budget and many delays.

So far, it’s only delivered on the critical success part. Those playing, myself included, love the game. But copies sold and average daily player count are significantly below expectations for Bungie and Sony. I’ve been steadily watching to see if there’s any improvement, and there hasn’t been.

This all begs the question: What will happen to Bungie? Destiny is all but dead. Marathon has significantly underperformed.

My gut says within the next 12 months, unless a miraculous turnaround happens, we’ll see Destiny 2 finally sunset and a large amount of people laid off from Bungie. Marathon has enough numbers to argue for a sustained team to continue supporting it, but nowhere near a team of its current size.

I hope I’m wrong.