Sony’s Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao confirms that the company plans to take more control over Bungie as it looks to completely integrate the developer into PlayStation Studios. While Destiny 2 continues to be the foundation for Bungie, the studio hasn’t had a smooth road over the past couple of years, following a series of layoffs and other development difficulties.
Since launching in 2017, Destiny 2 has continued to be the main focus of Bungie, though the player base has seemingly continued to dwindle following the end of its “Light and Darkness” saga with The Final Shape expansion in 2024. The recently released Edge of Fate expansion for Destiny 2 saw disappointing launch numbers, leading fans to worry about the future of the game. On top of that, Bungie is working on a new game, Marathon, though it has also run into a number of difficulties as well as a launch delay, further complicating things.
Sony To “Lessen” Bungie’s Independence
During a Q&A session following Sony’s recent financial results, Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao was asked for an update on the management of Bungie. While Sony offered a “very independent environment” at the time of Bungie’s acquisition, things have begun to shift in the other direction. Following a series of layoffs, Sony began to exert more control over Bungie, with Tao confirming the ultimate goal of fully integrating the studio into PlayStation Studios.
Alongside the Bungie plans, Lin Tao was asked about Marathon and the potential of a worst-case scenario should the extraction shooter be canceled. Tao revealed that Marathon is still planned for release within the current fiscal year, which comes to an end on March 31, 2026, though she left some wiggle room for that to be changed if needed as there hasn’t been an official announcement. With that said, Tao confirmed Bungie is continuing to make progress with Marathon‘s changes and updates, and there are no plans or expectations that the game could be canceled. She then went on to state that she’s confident that an official launch announcement can be revealed sometime in Autumn.
Compounding these issues even further has been Sony’s attempts at live service, which have been mixed at best. While Helldivers 2 has been a clear standout for Sony’s live-service push, it has had some high-profile flops as well, such as the online shooter Concord. Rumors continue to persist that Fairgame$, an upcoming live service game from Haven Interactive, has also been delayed internally. In fact, Bungie’s extraction shooter Marathon has also seen a lengthy delay following an underwhelming beta test and eventual accusations of plagiarism over its art style having been taken from an artist known as 4nt1r34l (Antireal).
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