Game News Bungie and Sony: According to analysts, a bitter-tasting buyout worth more than 3 billion
Bungie, the studio behind Destiny 2 and Halo, is said to have lied to Sony to stay alive. Statements that could call the studio’s future into question
Bungie’s lie
Remember that in 2022, Sony made the decision to buy Bungie, a studio especially known for its work on Destiny and Halo. However, since that acquisition, nothing has gone well for the publisher and developers. At the beginning of the month, we learned that a fairly large portion of the staff would be laid off: 17% of the workforce, or 220 positions
Miscalculation
A new report suggests that Bungie may have misled Sony about its financial situation. This file comes directly from the journalist Stephen Totilowho spoke to the developers. At least one of them told him that PlayStation clearly paid too much for the studio. Remember, almost $3.6 billion. In particular, Bungie is said to have “promised things that simply didn’t exist”. unable to deliver », the source says. However, according to Totilo, Bungie forced Sony to act by hiding its poor financial situation.
NEW: I spoke to former Bungie employees about yesterday’s big cuts
– This round was in progress before Final Shape
– You get the feeling that the Bungie bosses have oversold the studio to Sony
– Not selling would have been worse? Source: “The alternative story is bankruptcy”My story:https://t.co/QXm0qzeSQ8
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) 1 August 2024
Although The Final Shape, the latest chapter of Destiny 2, was praised by critics, the developers don’t seem to have necessarily expected a rebound. According to a source from the reporter, Bungie would probably have Went bankruptwithout that investment. “The other possible scenario is bankruptcy,” she said. A fairly likely destination if we follow the history of the studio, which reflects a long fall.
A long descent into hell
If Bungie has been shining with the Halo saga for a long time, it must be remembered that the studio had more than 1,000 employees at one point. However, since 2014, he has only been working on Destiny and its sequel. Layoffs have multipliedlike the one this August. And we are not even talking about the members who are also sent to Sony teams to work on other projects. Even the top managers of Destiny, Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy, have been fired. It only remains to be seen whether This new controversy will be fatal for BungieIn any case, it could put a damper on her new project called Marathon, which has been in the works for years.
While the developers are certainly doing very badly, Bungie’s CEO has already benefited from Sony’s money. Several of his employees have already pointed out his excessive spending on cars, for example. “This is my second (golden) Hot Wheel. It will return to its forever home,” he comments. his new Chevrolet. Comments made by former employees and many players, in black anger.