Live-service games are inherently risky. The expectation is that they maintain a 'forever' playerbase that continues to funnel money into a developer, or, more realistically, a publisher's pocket, while also invariably growing that playerbase every year. Even those who succeed, like Fortnite, aren't infallible, as we've seen with the recent Epic Games layoffs.
So, when a studio builds itself almost entirely around a live-service game, what happens when it collapses? That's the question looming over Bungie's head this week, with Destiny 2 finally being sunset, and with reports suggesting that Destiny 3 won't be going ahead after all. Everything now hinges on Marathon, the studio's new live-service extraction shooter.
As reported by GamesRadar+, Valve veteran Chet Faliszek, one of the writers behind Left 4 Dead and Portal, is one of many expressing concern about the studio's future. "Are we witnessing the end of Bungie?" he asked in a new video. "I say that not celebrating and yelling 'dead game' or anything, but just super bummed out. Because closing Destiny 2 on June 9 means they don't need a whole bunch of people to keep Destiny 2 going, and they're not doing a Destiny 3."
Indeed, reports suggest...
