Bungie reportedly had as many as five or six games in development during its ambitious expansion period, but most of those projects eventually fell apart following Sony’s acquisition of the Destiny developer.
According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, Bungie had “five or six different projects” in the works as the studio attempted to expand beyond Destiny 2. Sony announced its agreement to acquire Bungie for $3.6 billion in January 2022, specifically highlighting the developer’s experience with live-service games.
In brief
- Bungie reportedly had five or six projects in development at one point
- Most of those projects were eventually canceled, restructured, or moved elsewhere
- Bungie later admitted its expansion stretched its development teams too thin
- Marathon and Destiny became Bungie’s primary development focus
Bungie Was Reportedly Working on Up to Six Games
Speaking in a recent video about PlayStation’s live-service strategy, Schreier explained that Bungie had several other live-service games in development around the time of Sony’s acquisition.
“As part of that acquisition, Bungie also had a whole bunch of other live service games in the works,” Schreier said, adding that Sony hoped to see those projects released alongside Destiny 2. He later estimated that Bungie had “five or six different projects” running during this period.
However, Schreier did not provide a definitive list of all six games, meaning reports attempting to identify every project should be treated cautiously.
Known projects associated with Bungie’s expansion have included Marathon, the canceled Destiny spin-off Project Payback, various incubation projects, and the project commonly known as Gummy Bears. Destiny: Rising was also developed by NetEase in collaboration with Bungie.
Bungie’s Ambitious Expansion Did Not Go as Planned
Bungie itself has acknowledged that its attempts to develop several projects simultaneously caused problems.
In July 2024, then-CEO Pete Parsons said Bungie had established “several incubation projects” as part of a goal to create three enduring global franchises. However, the strategy ultimately stretched Bungie’s development talent too thin and forced the company to scale beyond what it could realistically support.
And that restructuring directly resulted in 220 layoffs, while another 155 roles were moved into Sony Interactive Entertainment. Bungie also transferred one incubation project into PlayStation Studios, which eventually became the foundation for teamLFG.
Ultimately, the report paints a picture of a Bungie that once had significantly bigger ambitions. Instead of becoming a multi-game powerhouse, most of those bets disappeared, leaving Destiny and Marathon at the center of the studio’s future.
