Bungie announced earlier this month that Destiny 2 would receive one final update, Monument of Triumph, on June 9, 2026, after which active development ends. The game will remain playable in maintenance mode, mirroring how the original Destiny has lingered on since its own support sunset. What has since emerged from insider reporting is how that decision was communicated internally, and the picture isn’t flattering.
According to a report by Forbes’ Paul Tassi, the vast majority of Bungie’s staff found out about the end of Destiny 2 development at the same time as the public. The decision was reportedly made earlier in 2026, and only a small group of employees working on the final update and those already transitioned to Marathon were informed ahead of the announcement. Some staff reportedly begged leadership to communicate the decision to the team before it went public. That apparently didn’t happen.
The downstream situation at the studio is also grim. Bloomberg and Forbes both report that significant layoffs are expected following the transition, though no formal announcements have been made. Bungie has 800-plus employees, and Marathon, the studio’s extraction shooter that launched in March 2026, has not captured the mainstream audience needed to justify that headcount. Sony, which acquired Bungie for $3.6 billion and has since seen the studio generate over $765 million in reported net losses, is reportedly supporting Marathon with additional resources and allowing to “find its legs.” No other projects have been greenlit. Destiny 3 pitches have been made internally; none have been approved.
This is a rough situation for a studio that defined the live-service genre for a decade. Destiny 2 had a daily peak on Steam of 26,000 players in January 2026, down from much higher highs, and Marathon has not filled the gap. Whether Sony gives Bungie the runway to build something new or continues consolidating is the question that matters for the studio’s long-term survival. The Destiny community, meanwhile, continues to exist in various stages of grief and anger, some of which has landed on Marathon’s Steam reviews.