An email that a content creator allegedly received regarding Destiny 2 is currently causing a stir in the community. The email supposedly reveals the internal mood among the leadership at Sony: Allegedly, there is much incompetence and greed within Bungie’s management.
What is known officially?
- Sony acquired Bungie for $3.6 billion in January 2022. The acquisition occurred just a few weeks after Sony’s competitor Microsoft announced it would be acquiring Activision Blizzard. Bungie was expected to primarily help Sony develop new service games for the PS5. Bungie itself stated that it anticipated receiving more resources for Destiny.
- However, there was a setback at the end of 2023: Bungie had to postpone the DLC “The Final Shape” from February 2024 to June 2024. Additionally, there were layoffs.
- In a statement from Sony in February 2024, Sony praised Bungie’s employees for their competence but criticized Bungie’s management. They were said to have difficulties controlling costs and meeting deadlines.
Rumor: Sony views the acquisition of Bungie as a “failed investment”
What is this new email about? The content creator Aztecross (YouTube) claims to have received an anonymous email that allegedly comes from someone with insight into the inner workings at Sony. It states:
- Sony now views Bungie very negatively and as a “failed investment”
- The discussion among Sony’s leadership focuses on how to recover the losses
- A Sony executive in the U.S. wants to “turn things around” – in Japan, there is even a push for harsher measures against Bungie
It is stated that while the employees at Bungie are capable, the management is described as “greedy” and incompetent.
Sales figures have been declining since Lightfall
These are the problems: According to the email, the pre-sales figures are lower than expected – this aligns with a rumor from February 2024. While Lightfall had met internal revenue targets, the numbers have been declining ever since.
Bungie has also failed to successfully advise Sony’s teams.
The heads of Bungie are avoiding meetings with Sony.
This is how it could proceed: The email states that Sony believes Destiny could be more successful if Sony exerts more control over Bungie. If this happens, the monetization system would be changed, as it is currently too complex.
If Sony Japan prevails, it could have even more serious implications for Bungie, as there is apparently pressure in Japan to significantly reduce the team size at Bungie.
Is this credible?
How should the email be assessed? This “anonymous email” that someone sent to Aztecross is a typical leak that should be viewed with skepticism. Because it is based on known information and combines it with fears and assumptions that already exist within the community.
Essentially, it takes the already serious-sounding official warning from Sony, amplifies it threefold, and combines it with the community’s existing reservations about the “supposedly lazy and greedy management” to form a “worst-case scenario”.
While the report resonates because it speaks gloomily to many Destiny players, it does not make the report any more credible. Essentially, the email is what comes out when you say: “Let’s take the existing facts, view them through the darkest lens, and write down how Sony might see it.”
The “email” should therefore be viewed with great skepticism.
In the past, such leaks that were an amplification and extension of known facts combined with fan theories have proven to be fake, while the more “outlandish leaks” turned out to be true. For example, there was a leak in July 2015 (via bungie.net) that Peter Dinklage would stop voicing the Ghost and Destiny would move away from the model of paid, regular DLCs.
That was completely wild at the time and came out of nowhere. It turned out to be true.
Bungie is currently in a difficult situation:
Destiny 2 has never had so few players on Steam: Compared to 2023, 3 out of 4 players are missing
