It’s hard to believe we’ve arrived at a day like this, when the live-service giant that is Destiny 2 is coming to an unexpected end as Bungie ceases all ongoing development on the game after one final update on June 9. From then on, the game will remain playable in legacy status for the foreseeable future, and while some claim that means Destiny 2 isn’t actually ending, that feels more like a technicality than a reality. When a live-service game effectively brings its live service to an end, it is no longer alive, and that’s what makes this moment so difficult to process for those who have kept up with the game in some capacity since it launched in 2017.
However, with Destiny 2 now taking a backseat, and with Bungie’s recent announcement that it would begin work “incubating our next games,” there is reason to believe that Destiny 3 is finally on the table, right? Actually, that may not be the case. Not only have recent reports suggested that more layoffs are headed Bungie’s way and Destiny 3 isn’t even in the works, but the developer has every reason to focus more attention on Marathon now with Destiny 2‘s live development concluding, and attempting to create a brand-new live-service game while evolving one and keeping the servers up for two others sounds like a lot for a team that is seemingly in survival mode.
Former Destiny 2 Director Luke Smith Responds to Final Update News
Former Destiny 2 game director Luke Smith returns to social media to share his thoughts about the game’s final content update on June 9.
Destiny 2 Ending Doesn’t Automatically Mean Destiny 3 Begins
It is worth pointing out that, despite the news from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier that Bungie is apparently facing another round of layoffs and Destiny 3 is not currently in development, the studio still has plans for new games. If we’re looking at this as a glass-half-full situation, then the reports of potential layoffs and a non-existent and unplanned Destiny 3 could turn out to be inaccurate. After all, the news has yet to be confirmed, and until it is, a new mainline Destiny game is always possible.
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But just because Bungie is now moving on to its “next games” doesn’t mean Destiny 3 is included in that. Sure, it might feel like the obvious long-term answer for the developer, but there may actually be better ways for it to spend its resources—especially in light of the future that could be awaiting it. Specifically, if the studio is truly about to be trimmed down, it would be very difficult to keep servers up for both Destiny and Destiny 2 while ensuring that not only Marathon has a future but that Destiny has one revolving around a brand-new third entry. It’s simply unrealistic to expect that Destiny 3 would be the next best move for Bungie, as much as fans of the franchise would presumably love for that to happen.
Bungie Has Been Here Before With Destiny 3
Even apart from what’s realistic to expect, though, Bungie already has a fairly complicated history with Destiny 3, and it’s one that doesn’t really lend itself to the game coming out anytime soon, if ever. Back in 2020, following the reveal of Destiny 2‘s Beyond Light, Witch Queen, and Lightfall expansions via livestream, former game director Luke Smith mentioned Bungie was “not planning to make one” when asked about a sequel to the game. Granted, that was six years ago, but it’s far from the only evidence suggesting Destiny 3 is either still very far off or simply non-existent in both form and concept.
A Bungie project labeled “Payback” surfaced in 2024 after a round of major layoffs and restructuring at the studio, with news that it was going to be a new game set in the Destiny universe but was unfortunately shelved. Naturally, fans began speculating that it could have been Destiny 3. However, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier clarified that it wasn’t. Specifically, he stated that Destiny 3 was not canceled because it was never in development in the first place. If that’s true—and Schreier’s batting average suggests that it is—then Destiny 3 wasn’t even in development less than two years ago.
Bungie already has a fairly complicated history with Destiny 3, and it’s one that doesn’t really lend itself to the game coming out anytime soon, if ever.
There was a leak in November 2025, though, that led many to believe Destiny 3 was, in fact, happening. In a post on X, known Destiny leaker and dataminer Colony Deaks stated that Destiny 3 was in extremely early development, despite previous claims that there were no plans for a sequel. Of course, that makes this whole situation a bit odd, because now it comes down to a matter of whom to trust.
On the one hand, Schreier said in 2024 that Destiny 3 was never in development, only for a leak to point to its development a little over a year later. On the other hand, Schreier has now doubled down on that claim, after Bungie announced that live-service support for Destiny 2 would be ending on June 9, and he broke the news about impending layoffs for the developer and poured cold water on the Destiny 3 fire. It could be that the leak was real and Destiny 3 has now been canceled. It could also be that the leak was real and Schreier is wrong and Destiny 3 is still in development. But given the amount of evidence stacked against the existence, eventual or present, of a sequel, it seems more likely that the leak wasn’t factual and Destiny 3 just isn’t on the table.
Marathon Needs Bungie Right Now More Than Destiny Does
A massive variable to consider in the conversation about Destiny 3 is Marathon, primarily because if Bungie can’t manage to get it off the ground, and soon, the studio could be heading into a massively unfortunate future. With Destiny 2‘s live-service support ending in early June, Bungie’s top priority is its other big bet, and it’s already off to a poor start.
While reviews for Marathon weren’t as negative as people seemed to assume they would be, things still aren’t looking great for the game. Its road to launch was already rough, with Bungie delaying it after negative closed alpha feedback and saying it needed more time to make the game reflect what players wanted from it. That’s not a death sentence by itself, especially for a studio with Bungie’s history of improving live-service games over time, but it does mean Marathon is probably not the kind of easy win Bungie could use right now. If anything, it looks like a game that will need a long period of support, revision, and community rebuilding before it becomes the reliable pillar Bungie and Sony likely need it to be.
A massive variable to consider in the conversation about Destiny 3 is Marathon, primarily because if Bungie can’t manage to get it off the ground, and soon, the studio could be heading into a massively unfortunate future.
If that’s the case, then Destiny 3 feels like the kind of massive commitment Bungie may not be ready to make anytime soon. In reality, Marathon needs Bungie right now more than Destiny does, and it’s a symbiotic relationship of sorts where, if Bungie can’t get Marathon to a point where it can sustain the studio while it works on Destiny‘s future, then not only will Destiny not have a future, the future of Bungie itself could be grim as well.
Destiny 3 Is Still Plausible, Just Probably Not Soon
Right now, the answer seems to be very far away. Between the reported layoffs, Marathon needing Bungie’s full attention, and the studio only now talking about incubating its next games, Destiny 3 feels more like a long-term possibility than an obvious next move. It may happen one day, and fans would obviously have every reason to hope it does. But based on everything currently surrounding Bungie, it’s hard to look at the end of Destiny 2 and assume a sequel is waiting right behind it.
- Released
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August 28, 2017
- ESRB
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T For TEEN for Blood, Language, and Violence
