Summary
- Bungie developers reportedly wanted to work on single-player games but were shut down by leadership.
- Despite cancelations of multiple live-service PlayStation projects, Bungie remains focused on it.
- Bungie is still concentrating on live-service gaming with new projects like Marathon.
Rumors have surfaced suggesting Bungie developers want to work on single-player projects, but none of those ideas are being approved. Bungie has still been working on Destiny 2 since its 2017 launch, pioneering some elements of the live-service trend that has remained popular in 2025. As the company has proven successful in this avenue, there's seemingly far less room to experiment when it comes to game format.
Many fans of Destiny 2 enjoy the game's take on the live-service model. The Destiny franchise has dominated the genre for years, and that popularity may only diminish if a sequel is announced. Regardless, some still have hopes that AAA developer Bungie will make a return to its roots with games focused on a single-player experience. It appears that the possibility for that future is further off than some may imagine.
Destiny 2's Player Count Debacle Explained
The Destiny franchise has had its share of highs and lows, though Destiny 2 has reached a new extreme that suggests a troubling future for the game.
Destiny Bulletin owner Zuhaad Ali shares that while writing a story last year, he was informed that many developers at Bungie expressed a desire to work on single-player-focused games instead of continuing to embrace live-services. Ali notes that when developers tried to pitch ideas that were designed to be less risky and on a smaller scale, possibly to use up fewer resources, those projects were still shut down quickly. Chances are that gamers won't see Bungie return to single-player for some time, especially considering that Bungie's ambitious next title Marathon is expected to show up sometime soon.
Bungie Devs Apparently Wanted to Make Single-Player Titles
It doesn't seem like Bungie's plans for live-service gaming are slowing down anytime soon. In addition to the development of Marathon, the team has been hard at work on a new MOBA title codenamed Gummy Bears. The team working on this game has been integrated into a new PlayStation studio, and reports state that the PlayStation-exclusive Gummy Bears is similarly ambitious, bearing some similarities to the Super Smash Bros. Series while attempting something fresh.
The news that Bungie is still focusing on live-service gaming may be surprising to anyone observing the growing list of canceled PlayStation live-service titles that include Bungie's own Destiny spin-off, codenamed Payback. These cancelations seem to reflect the overall assessment that many of these games would not have made back the amount of money invested in them, even if they managed to survive long after their planned releases. It's possible that if this shift sticks, it could signal a change in the initiative, allowing developers at Bungie to pursue fleshing out the various single-player concepts that are rumored to be floating around at the studio.
