Schreier: Sony is unlikely to shut down Bungie — at least not in the near future
Last week, it became known that Bungie plans to conduct major layoffs. The studio was pushed to this decision after deciding to cease content support for its flagship, Destiny 2. Amidst a series of grim news, discussions began online suggesting that Bungie might cease to exist entirely. However, journalist and insider Jason Schreier disagrees with this notion.
Destiny 2
Schreier shared his thoughts on this topic on YouTube. In a segment dedicated to Bungie, he expressed skepticism about whether Sony is indeed preparing to disband the studio. Schreier doesn't know the corporation's plans for sure but considers such an outcome unlikely in the foreseeable future.
According to the journalist, Bungie is more likely to shift gears towards creating smaller and less risky projects. He also suggests that Bungie might become a kind of support team, focusing on outsourcing and co-developing games with other studios to cut costs—though these are merely Schreier's suppositions, not information from sources close to Bungie or Sony.
Schreier also reiterated that Bungie is not working on Destiny 3, as it would be too costly. As the journalist recalls, Activision Blizzard once planned to invest around $500 million in the Destiny franchise. This budget was meant to cover four games and their expansions. Since then, development costs have significantly increased, and now creating just Destiny 3 could cost half a billion dollars, not including marketing expenses.
"I think Sony has no desire to spend that kind of money [on Destiny 3]. Especially considering that in recent years, it hasn't achieved the desired results with some of its games and has had to cancel several projects and lay off a large number of people," Schreier said.