Bungie is working on a sequel to Destiny 2, according to a trusted dataminer, as well as the upcoming Marathon.
After several rounds of layoffs and the delay of Marathon, there’s long been a big question mark hanging over the future of Bungie.
The studio, once synonymous with Halo, was acquired by Sony for $3.6 billion in 2022, a decision fuelled by Sony’s desire to build more live service projects. However, since then, everything suggests Bungie hasn’t lived up to the investment, with reports of Sony being ‘very upset’ with studio leadership after it failed to hit financial targets.
Bungie has undergone some dramatic changes over the past year, between layoffs and the appointment of new studio head, Justin Truman, and while the future looked pretty bleak, with all the controversy surrounding its next shooter Marathon, a leaker has claimed the developer is actually in the early stages of a massive new sequel.
According to known Destiny dataminer and leaker, Colony Deaks, Destiny 3 is in ‘extremely early development’ at Bungie, but is currently several years away from launch.
The leaker claims they’ve known about the project for ‘a few weeks now’ and initially wanted to wait before mentioning it because it is in ‘such an early state’, but as rumbles of Destiny 3 began to percolate online, they decided to come forward.
‘We plan to share more info in the coming months as we wait on the larger scale things to develop and take shape,’ they added. ‘Sit tight.’
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Along with developing Marathon, which has been indefinitely delayed, Bungie is continuing to support Destiny 2 with its ongoing Fate Saga. This began with The Edge of Fate expansion in July, and is set to conclude with The Alchemist DLC in winter 2026.
The future of Destiny 2 after this date is unknown, so if this rumour is true, it’s possible the studio could accelerate development on a potential sequel after next year. Either way, we wouldn’t expect Destiny 3 to materialise, assuming it isn’t cancelled – which is a strong possibility – until somewhere around 2030.
Fan reaction to the prospect has been mixed but largely positive, with everyone recognising that with declining interest in Destiny 2, something has to change.
‘Destiny 3 would be a super interesting shake up, I personally would like a hard reset and a fresh sandbox but I wonder how the rest of the community would take it. Even if its 3 to 5+ years out, I think its a good idea and something I’m excited about the prospect of’, says fan Lancee on Twitter.
‘If true, it can potentially be cool… but get ready for the inevitable consequences that comes with deleting years of cosmetics, purchases, etc. (myself included),’ says the more sceptical Pharaoh Rising. ‘I don’t think a true Destiny 3 is the right choice… but we shall see. Not that it will be here for years if true.’
‘They finally figured out it’s the only way that weird community can deal with a reset of any sort,’ writes Z. ‘And everyone can have a fresh start. On a fresh canvas. And hopefully improved work flow for the developers.’
The big question is what will keep Bungie as a studio ticking over until a possible release. It could continue to knock out medium-sized expansions for Destiny 2, or perhaps Sony is now more confident of Marathon’s chances of success, even if the shooter met a tepid response in early player tests.
A third Destiny game does make sense as the most reliable bet for the studio’s future, and there has been a push to broaden the IP’s reach – as seen with the free-to-play mobile title Destiny: Rising from developer NetEase, which launched earlier this year.
The likelihood of Destiny 3 entering full production might be dependent on Marathon’s success, which would make sense if the former is in the early stages. Marathon currently doesn’t have a release date, but it’s expected to launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC next year.
What might happen to Bungie if Destiny 3, or some other large scale project, isn’t greenlit doesn’t bare thinking about, with many fans already worrying that Sony will continue to move developers to other areas of the company, before finally shuttering the studio.
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