Destiny Fans Flood Sony's State of Play Chat with Demands for Destiny 3

Destiny enthusiasts are flooding Sony's State of Play livestream chat with the hashtag #WeWantDestiny, continuing their campaign for more from Bungie's looter shooter series, including the highly requested Destiny 3.

As of this writing, with 15 minutes until today's State of Play (follow our live blog for all announcements), chats across multiple streams are packed with #WeWantDestiny and calls for Destiny 3, as fans push for the franchise's continuation.

Bungie stepped away from Destiny 2 earlier this year, with Sony backing a shift to the struggling extraction shooter Marathon. However, Marathon's updates have failed to gain traction, leading to louder demands for a return to Destiny.

Despite the vocal support for Destiny 3, Sony seems unlikely to greenlight the game, as it would be another risky, expensive development project amid industry-wide caution. But could Bungie be working on more Destiny in some form? With Marathon struggling to attract players, how long before Sony pulls the plug on it too?

Bungie's issues with Destiny 2 reportedly began around last summer's Edge of Fate expansion, which underperformed. The decision to end the game was allegedly made "earlier this year" after opting not to relaunch the franchise as "Destiny Infinity."

Forbes reported that Bungie discussed various scenarios for "what the future of Destiny 2 would look like" after December's Renegades, its Star Wars-themed crossover, "did even worse [than Edge of Fate] and didn't change sales or retention trajectory."

Destiny Infinity would have been a relaunch alongside a return to the single large expansion model Destiny previously used, but the idea was scrapped due to high costs and risks, especially given the focus on Marathon.

Destiny 3 "was considered, as ever, but things didn't swing that way," with no behind-the-scenes hints of a third mainline game, as production costs are cited as the main obstacle.

Destiny 2 launched on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 6, 2017, with a PC release a month later. Tensions between Bungie and publisher Activision emerged, leading to their split in January 2019, five years before their 10-year deal was set to end.

Bungie self-published Destiny 2 but couldn't escape financial troubles and layoffs as expansions fell short and the player base shrank. Extraction shooter Marathon launched in early March with a reported budget of over $250 million, but analysts say it too has missed sales expectations.

Bungie has struggled financially for some time and reportedly was near closure before Sony acquired the studio for $3.6 billion in 2022. Sony recently reported a $765 million impairment loss due to Bungie's underperformance.

Bungie underwent significant layoffs tied to the end of Destiny 2 development. Official records show nearly 300 staff were let go from its Bellevue, Washington office. A WARN notice filed by Sony with the Washington State Employment Security Department, reported by Game File, revealed 292 employees were dismissed with a formal separation date of July 9. This number doesn't include Bungie staff outside Washington. The remaining headcount is unknown, though the studio reportedly had 850 employees in 2024.

This was Bungie's third round of layoffs in three years. The Seattle Times noted that Bungie once had 1,000 employees in Bellevue, based on a 2023 city financial report. Between October 2023 and July 2024, Bungie laid off about 320 staff, with local media describing the cuts as a "bloodbath."