Sony ‘Forcing’ Bungie to ‘Get Their Heads Out Their Asses’ and Run Destiny 2 Like a Business Is Very Much a Good Thing, Studio’s Ex-Lawyer Says [IGN]

A former Bungie lawyer has commented on upcoming improvements to embattled live service looter shooter Destiny 2, saying the role of parent company Sony in “forcing” through these changes is very much a good thing.

Last week, Bungie unveiled what it called “major changes” to Destiny 2 that it hopes will win back players. Bungie has reportedly struggled to meet key financial targets, with Destiny 2 significantly underperforming last year. The Final Shape expansion reportedly sold less at launch than last year’s critically panned Lightfall.

Destiny 2 will now adopt a new model that includes the release of two medium-sized expansions and four major free content updates annually.

“This evolution aims to enhance the player experience through a new multi-year saga, introducing a non-linear story, more systemic innovation, and significant improvements to core game activities and rewards,” Bungie said.

One of the problems with Destiny 2 that Bungie has now identified is that it’s nigh on impenetrable to newcomers. Speaking in a blog post, game director Tyson Green admitted Destiny is “too complex.” “With literally hundreds of activities, you practically need a PhD to decide what to play and how to get rewards you’re looking for, Green added, before revealing plans to modernizing Destiny 2’s user interface “to make it easier for everyone to find and launch into great activities.”

In a LinkedIn post, Don McGowan, the former general counsel at Bungie, reacted to a Kotaku article rounding up the Destiny 2 changes to say he was pleased with Sony’s apparent influence here, which, he said, means the studio is finally “running the game like a business.”

“Much though it pains me to say this, it appears that Sony’s inflicting some discipline on my former colleagues may have forced them to fix the things that were wrong with their game,” McGowan said.

“To be clear: I’m not talking about the layoffs, I’m talking about forcing them to get their heads out of their asses and focus on things like: implementing a method of new player acquisition; not just doing fan service for the fans in the Bungie C-suite; and running the game like a business. Good. I still have friends in that environment and I’d like them to keep jobs.

“This is the future I thought the company should embrace after the Sony acquisition: a studio, not an ‘independent company.’ But there were a lot of egos for whom it was important to pretend that ‘nothing would change.’

“I remember sitting there during the deal saying ‘do you think Sony describes this as them getting to pay $3.6 billion for the right to have no input into what Bungie does?’ That was exactly what a lot of people thought. I guess they’ve been given cause to understand that that’s not how things work. Good. The changes described in this article are the things you do to run a franchise, not to keep making the game you and your friends have mastered, or to chase trends.”

IGN has asked Sony for comment.

Bungie’s Destiny 2 changes come amid a period of speculation and unrest within the Destiny community about the franchise’s future. Uncertainty grew when Bungie announced plans to cut 220 staff in late July, with an additional 155 workers planned to move from Bungie into Sony Interactive Entertainment in the coming months. That left the developer with around 850 employees.

“I realize all of this is hard news, especially following the success we have seen with The Final Shape,” controversial studio head Pete Parsons said in a statement. “But as we’ve navigated the broader economic realities over the last year, and after exhausting all other mitigation options, this has become a necessary decision to refocus our studio and our business with more realistic goals and viable financials.”

Bungie reportedly has no plans for Destiny 3 and has canceled a Destiny spinoff project known as Payback. Development on its Marathon revival is said to still be ongoing.

In December, IGN reported on an apparent scramble by Bungie studio leadership to avoid a total Sony takeover. Then, in March, IGN reported on a leadership shakeup on Marathon, which included the removal of long-time Bungie designer Christopher Barrett from the game director role.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.