Sony writes down Bungie acquisition by $765M, cuts 292 staff as Destiny team dismantled
Summary
Sony cut 292 Bungie staff via WARN filing, eliminating most of the Destiny team and some Marathon developers
Sony wrote down its $3.6B Bungie acquisition by $765M in FY2025/26 - 21% of deal value erased in one year
A 2023-reported clause gave Sony full control if Bungie missed post-acquisition targets - that trigger has now fired
"We explored multiple alternatives before concluding that a reduction was necessary to align the studio's resources with its current priorities and long-term goals"
01
The M&A math: 21% of a $3.6B deal written off in one year
Sony acquired Bungie for $3.6B in 2022 as the anchor of PlayStation's live-service expansion
FY2025/26 write-down of $765M equals 21% of the original purchase price
Destiny 2 underperformance was flagged by Sony in fall 2025; Marathon's soft results compounded the miss
The 2023-reported earn-out clause converting missed targets into full Sony control is now active governance reality
02
Marathon is the only surviving thesis
Bungie ended live development on Destiny 2 with a June 9, 2026 farewell update
Hulst confirmed Marathon "remains an important part of our portfolio" with Season 1 and 2 foundations plus incubation work
SIE staff supporting Bungie operations were also cut, extending the restructuring beyond the studio
The post-layoff Bungie is a single-franchise extraction-shooter studio, not the multi-IP semi-autonomous entity Sony bought
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