The lawyer Don McGowan earned $7 million for Bungie in lawsuits concerning Destiny 2. However, he was fired after Sony’s acquisition of Bungie. Now he has clear words about what Sony’s takeover triggers at Bungie, receiving significant support from fans.
What does the lawyer say? Don McGowan spoke on the weekend on LinkedIn about the comprehensive changes Bungie is now making to Destiny 2. Bungie will change how frequently new updates come and wants to adjust the loot:
- McGowan says these are the changes he wished for when Sony bought Bungie
- Sony would be getting the shop in order and would force Bungie to “pull their head out of their ass”
- Destiny 2 will now be
managed like a business
– Previously, the bosses had made the shooter for themselves and their friends
Lawyer criticizes bosses who make Destiny for “themselves and their friends”
This is how he sees Sony’s influence: McGowan says Sony’s focus is on running Destiny 2 like a “business” and not catering to the desires of the bosses. Because the wrong decisions of the bosses led to many layoffs.
Sony’s focus is on bringing new players to Destiny 2.
Some Bungie employees with their big egos had said during Sony’s purchase, “nothing will change” – but Don McGowan had questioned at the takeover: “Do you think Sony is paying $3.6 billion for the right to say nothing here?”
McGowan says the changes announced now are exactly what needs to be done to keep a “business running” – and not to make “the game you and your friends like.”
Who is he criticizing? McGowan does not name names, only refers to the “C-suite,” the bosses. From everything we know, most of the criticism seems to be directed at Pete Parsons, the CEO of Bungie.
Fans critically view Bungie’s independence
How is this being discussed? The former lawyer’s statements for Bungie are causing quite a stir on reddit.
There is a hint of schadenfreude in that Bungie has always strived to be independent, but apparently couldn’t make anything out of that independence and now Sony is regaining more control.
The comment with the most approval states:
“This probably puts all the talk of ‘escaping Microsoft’s tyranny’ to rest. It turns out it was a big mess and they need oversight.”
Bungie and the difficult marriage with Sony and Activision
What’s behind this: A major narrative surrounding Destiny has always been that Bungie develops the online shooter Destiny independently
, determining its own fate, and no longer works under Microsoft like with Halo.
Between 2014 and 2018, Destiny was created in collaboration with Activision Blizzard. But in 2019, they separated, probably because Bungie did not want to develop Destiny 3 as the contract stipulated, and the sales figures had sunk to a disappointing level for Activision following the disastrous release of Destiny 2.
In 2019, Bungie then gave the impression that without Activision on board, they could develop the game they had always wanted to make
. Yet this game fell far short of fan expectations.
With the purchase by Sony in 2022, it was supposed to get better again, as they hoped for more resources, but apparently, these resources were spent so extravagantly on launching new projects and hiring too many employees that the massive wake-up call came with the layoff wave in 2024.
This is the lawyer: The lawyer Don McGowan, speaking here, has won several high-profile cases for Destiny 2 and Bungie, earning a lot of money. After Sony’s acquisition of Bungie, he was still fired because Bungie is now using Sony’s legal department: Destiny 2: Lawyer wins $7.2 million with lawsuits against cheaters and trolls – Bungie fires him
