Liana Ruppert, a former Bungie community manager, stated that the studio faced severe financial trouble before its acquisition by Sony. She described the 2022 deal as an emergency move to prevent closure of Destiny operations.
Ruppert made the comments on X in response to claims that Sony was responsible for Destiny 2's recent challenges. "Bungie was below the red line before the Sony acquisition," she wrote. "If it wasn’t acquired right then, the studio was very close to shutting its doors at the very least on Destiny. It was an emergency acquisition."
Sony bought Bungie for $3.6 billion in 2022. The company later reported a $765 million impairment loss tied to underperformance by Marathon and ongoing issues with Destiny 2.
Player numbers for Destiny 2 rose after the Monument of Triumph update, while Marathon saw declining figures. Bungie has since confirmed continued work on Marathon.