It’s hard to really put into words how I feel about Bungie right now. As a lifelong Halo fan, the studio will always have a special place in my heart, but the way it has operated since leaving Xbox has been less than ideal and, honestly, devastating to watch as a fan.
For those out of the loop, Bungie recently shifted its focus away from Destiny in favor of Marathon. Unfortunately, that decision doesn’t appear to be paying off. Marathon recently peaked at around 6,000 concurrent players on Steam, while Destiny 2 reached almost 60,000 during the same period, around 10 times more than Marathon.
It's also worth mentioning that Marathon isn't even within the top 100 most played games on Xbox, behind titles like Gears of War 2 and Fable 3, both of which are Xbox 360 games.
Don’t worry, though, Destiny fans; Bungie has a solution. It’s adding a limited-time PvE mode to Marathon for just two weeks. I’m sure that’ll go over well. In all seriousness, though, I don’t want to make fun of Bungie too much. What’s happened to the studio, especially after the recent layoffs, which are genuinely sad to see.
I really do hope Bungie lands on its feet, whatever that future looks like. Still, the studio’s direction feels increasingly uncertain, and it’s hard not to wonder what happens next for one of gaming’s most iconic developers. It’s not difficult to imagine a future where Bungie ends up as more of a support studio, especially as its valuation continues to decline from the $3.6 billion Sony paid to acquire it.
For context, Sony not too long ago recorded an impairment loss of roughly $766 million against Bungie. In simple terms, that’s an acknowledgment that the studio is now considered less valuable than when Sony acquired it for $3.6 billion. Whether that figure grows in future earnings remains to be seen, but given Bungie’s recent struggles, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.
Mind you, this is all without mentioning that Marathon's game director, Joseph Ziegler, has just left Bungie. Although the torch has been passed on, his departure is yet another worrying sign for Marathon's future.
Let me know how you feel about Bungie, the current state of Marathon, and where you think the studio goes from here in the comments below. Also, be sure to take part in our poll!
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