Sony's $3.6 Billion Gamble on Destiny 2 Yields Underwhelming Results
In the company's latest earnings announcement, Sony revealed that its acquisition of gaming developer Bungie in 2022 has not yielded the expected sales and user engagement numbers for Destiny 2. According to Tao Lin, Sony Chief Financial Officer, the game's performance "has not reached the expectations we had at the time of the acquisition".
The $204 million impairment on Bungie's intangible assets - which include its intellectual property and existing customer relationships - is a sobering reminder that the game has failed to meet the sales models Sony had envisioned when it made the massive purchase. The value of these intangible assets, however, has decreased below expectations.
When Sony acquired Bungie for $3.6 billion, it was hoping to tap into the developer's expertise in running online games and leverage its success to expand PlayStation's live service offerings. While some successes have come out of this deal, such as the popular multiplayer game Helldivers 2, there have also been catastrophic failures like Concord, which was pulled from digital stores just two weeks after launch.
Sony's announcement does not suggest that it regrets making the purchase, but rather puts increased pressure on Bungie to deliver. The developer is currently facing a number of challenges, including a delayed extraction shooter called Marathon, which has used stolen assets and lacks an announced release date.
The fate of Destiny 2 hangs in the balance as Bungie looks to revamp its strategy with the upcoming Star Wars-themed expansion, Renegades, which may yet attract new players to the game. However, if interest in Destiny 2 never fully recovers, a lot will depend on Bungie's next major release, and whether it can regain the momentum that eluded it until now.
In the company's latest earnings announcement, Sony revealed that its acquisition of gaming developer Bungie in 2022 has not yielded the expected sales and user engagement numbers for Destiny 2. According to Tao Lin, Sony Chief Financial Officer, the game's performance "has not reached the expectations we had at the time of the acquisition".
The $204 million impairment on Bungie's intangible assets - which include its intellectual property and existing customer relationships - is a sobering reminder that the game has failed to meet the sales models Sony had envisioned when it made the massive purchase. The value of these intangible assets, however, has decreased below expectations.
When Sony acquired Bungie for $3.6 billion, it was hoping to tap into the developer's expertise in running online games and leverage its success to expand PlayStation's live service offerings. While some successes have come out of this deal, such as the popular multiplayer game Helldivers 2, there have also been catastrophic failures like Concord, which was pulled from digital stores just two weeks after launch.
Sony's announcement does not suggest that it regrets making the purchase, but rather puts increased pressure on Bungie to deliver. The developer is currently facing a number of challenges, including a delayed extraction shooter called Marathon, which has used stolen assets and lacks an announced release date.
The fate of Destiny 2 hangs in the balance as Bungie looks to revamp its strategy with the upcoming Star Wars-themed expansion, Renegades, which may yet attract new players to the game. However, if interest in Destiny 2 never fully recovers, a lot will depend on Bungie's next major release, and whether it can regain the momentum that eluded it until now.
Sony spent $3.6 BILLION on Destiny 2 & now they're only getting ~$100M/month in revenue 
Meanwhile, the game's user base is like a stagnant pool 
Bungie's got some serious work to do if it wants to regain that momentum! 
Did u know that Sony's acquiring more than just games? They're also buying all those intangible assets for $204M 
And let's be real, Star Wars: Renegades might just be enough to give the game some new life 
But we'll have to see what the future holds for Destiny 2 
Fast forward to 2025 & that number has dropped to ~$100M/month 
Yikes!
and if they dont get some new content soon, people will just forget about it 
...imagine if sony didnt buy them in the first place tho, who knows maybe bungie wouldve done more with destiny 2 on their own 
. I mean, I still play some Destiny 2 with my friends from time to time, but it's not like it's the next Minecraft or anything 
. I guess they thought they could just buy a successful game and make it even better? That doesn't always work out, you know? 
. And hey, Helldivers 2 is still a solid multiplayer game 
. Still, it's gotta be tough for them to recoup those $3.6 billion losses 
I mean, they shelled out $3.6 billion for Destiny 2 and it just didn't pan out 
. Still, I'm hoping Bungie pulls off a major comeback and gets Destiny 2 back on track 
. Fingers crossed for them! 
Sony spent $3.6 billion on Destiny 2 like what was wrong with them? They must've thought the game would be a cash cow 
I mean, Bungie had some hits like Helldivers 2 and stuff, but that's not enough to justify such a huge investment 
Sony's still got their eyes on Bungie and they'll figure out a way to make it work 
but $3.6 billion isn't just going to get written off 
lets keep it positive vibes only 
. And maybe they'll get their mojo back with the Star Wars expansion... we'll just have to wait and see 
. I'm not saying Sony made the wrong decision in acquiring them, but it's clear they're under pressure now 
. You still gotta hold on to your faith that things will turn around... fingers crossed for Bungie! 
bungie is def struggling and it's gonna be hard for them to recover now, especially with renegades coming out...fingers crossed tho 
maybe this will be the boost they need to get destiny 2 back on track 
That's so underwhelming. I remember when Helldivers 2 came out, that was pretty cool, but Concord got cancelled like two weeks in? 
What was going through their minds?
That's a whole lot of money down the drain. I guess only time will tell if Bungie can turn things around, but right now it's hard to see a happy ending for this deal 
. I hope Bungie can figure out what went wrong and get back on track, but it's not looking good right now 
So I think this is kinda interesting... imagine you're playing a game of Risk 
, you gotta manage your resources wisely. Sony invested a huge amount in Bungie's intellectual property 
, but it didn't quite pay off as expected 
. The game needs a refresh, maybe a new direction, to win back players 
. Bungie's got some tough challenges ahead 
.
that gets people interested in Destiny 2 again 
️! It's all about finding that sweet spot where you've got enough players to make it worth it, but not so many that it becomes stale 
its like sony gave them a lot of freedom to work on their own games too bad marathon is delayed like wut happened to that one?