ultrazilla
Member
Tone deaf, overpaid management with a helping of "woke" and DEI led Bungie to where they're at now.
What a fucking disaster.
What a fucking disaster.
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Former Bungie Worker Claims Studio Faced Insolvency Without Sony Acquisition
Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
You see Firewalk as a failure because Concord looks like a failure.
Many studios have had duds on their first games. Sometimes you don't always find financial success, but if a studio has value, they still have value.
They could get an early start on Destiny 3, they could help create a Marathon campaign mode. They have all the pedigree they need to do that.
simpatico
Gold Member
If they keep anyone around from Firewalk after absolutely burning all those millions, they deserve the loss. Fool me once saying applies. Hire activist developers, get activist results.
Negotiator101
Member
That makes the acquisition even more stupid then. Any way you paint it Sony have lost significantly on acquiring Bungie.
Negotiator101
Member
They may not get the luxury of a second chance in the current economic situation, a blunder of this scale will not sit well with Sony HQ who are now watching the PS division closely.
Angry_Megalodon
Member
A studio that sabotages itself is beyond salvation. Sony would be insane to give them a second chance.
Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
That's possible and it is also possible that Sony sees the need to continue to invest in this space. None of the factors have changed since Sony bought them.
They still need to be able to compete with FPS.
I just think that jumping straight into an FPS without getting buy-in that comes with a campaign is a bad strategy in 2024.
Arsic
Loves his juicy stink trail scent
I’m a controller guy myself.
Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
Another factor that we won't have details on is how much of the retention bonuses Sony is able to claw back by cutting employees and possibly even by moving them around.
I think 800 million was set to be paid within the first two years, though there were layoffs prior to this. The remaining 400 million was to be paid out over several years. So decent chance that isn't happening now. Might lower the overall cost of the purchase to 3-3.2 billion (speculation).
I think 800 million was set to be paid within the first two years, though there were layoffs prior to this. The remaining 400 million was to be paid out over several years. So decent chance that isn't happening now. Might lower the overall cost of the purchase to 3-3.2 billion (speculation).
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Poor management strikes again. Hopefully they’re the ones getting cut, not the creative talent that make the game.
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Alebrije
Member
Sony did not Buy Bungie for Destiny but to have a GAAS studio...and later create a studios hub dedicated to GAAS. They tried first with ND and maybe other studios to create Gaas games from thier IPS but it seems did not work.
So now Sony just split Bungie o two áreas : original Bungie and moved a Lot of workes to Sony studios...My Bet is that those workers Will become the new hub for Gaas inside Sony.
So now Sony just split Bungie o two áreas : original Bungie and moved a Lot of workes to Sony studios...My Bet is that those workers Will become the new hub for Gaas inside Sony.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
By the looks of it, Destiny 2 and Marathon will be Bungie's last games. If Sony is already taking away Bungie employees to make a new studio to make a game instead of letting them handle it under the Bungie brand, I think at some point it'll all be absorbed into Sony and the Bungie brand gone. Seems like most of the Bungie execs are already cut loose. So down the road, Pete Parsons will be paid off to leave and it'll all be under Sony studios. When that happens Sony will do a big writeoff of Goodwill costs on the balance sheet.
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mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
I totally agree with this! M&As shouldn't have happened like they did.
Black_Stride
do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Disco Dave
Member
Bungie; “What’s the “S” stand for?”
Sony; “It’s not an ‘S’. It means hope.”
Bungie; “Well to me, it’s a $”
Sony; “It’s not an ‘S’. It means hope.”
Bungie; “Well to me, it’s a $”
Gojiira
Member
That is a hot take given MS mismanages all their studios…
Their better as they are now, with Sony finally taking control and reining them in.
Puscifer
Member
I mean it has to be supported by the same handful of players, right? Most people I see that wanna play it end up getting turned off by the purchasing schemes, it's literally whales at this point. Blizzard had it right, sell the current expansion till the new one and integrate the previous content for subscribers who don't have it. Destiny 2 just seems to not do that and I just feel like it's trying to get excess money out of money out of me
Robot Carnival
Gold Member
coolguy once again saying what we've all been thinking of
AJUMP23
Parody of actual AJUMP23
If this was true then all the lawyers and the accounts Sony hired to do due diligence would be sued for malpractice, and Bungie would be sued as well. This just doesn't pass the smell test. Cooperate acquisition requires years of financial data being poured through by accountants.
proandrad
Member
Does Microsoft regret the Activision purchase? CoD still prints money.
Hudo
Member
Untrue. Age of Empires is doing very well under the studios that are currently developing for it. Flight Simulator is doing well. id Software seem to be doing well. Obsidian seem to be doing well.
Gojiira
Member
Lmao phew what an exhaustive list! iD doing well has fuck all to do with Microsoft, they havent released anything since the acquisition so no MS dont get credit…
Obsidian are doing fine, just ‘fine’ thats a huge step down from the promise they had. Flight Sim,AoE meeeeh, 2 ok studios while the lions share of studios flounders and flops. Sterling achievement.
Lord Malachite
Member
What never gets said is the actual truth, IMO. Yeah, Bungie likely would have faced insolvency if Sony (or some other major player) hadn't acquired them. Would Bungie have died without being acquired? Maybe. But there are two kinds of death. There's a full-tilt, we're bankrupt, sell everything off and lock the doors death. And then there's a death like Sears, where the company still technically exists but it's forced to cut many of its iconic staff and barely be able to tread water, its releases becoming more and more lackluster until at best it's a corpse of its former self.
Bungie didn't want to become the Sears of game development and publishing, so they sold.
As someone who only games on PlayStation, this doesn't make Sony heroic. They saw an opportunity to acquire a big player in the industry and transfer some IPs into their portfolio. They also got themselves some mindshare in acquiring what was once the most important developer for Xbox. Kind of like if Naughty Dog were able to leave PlayStation and then Xbox acquired them down the line. It's rubbing salt into the wound.
The state of Bungie today is a pretty poor and sad mess. But if Bungie itself was being mismanaged before and after the Sony acquisition, it's no surprise they've been hit with layoffs and that Sony is now taking a much more hands on approach with them. Business does as business does. I find it very difficult to find much empathy for Bungie itself, though I do hope that people who have lost their livelihood in the recent layoffs are able to land on their feet. It's usually the cogs in the machine that suffer.
Bungie didn't want to become the Sears of game development and publishing, so they sold.
As someone who only games on PlayStation, this doesn't make Sony heroic. They saw an opportunity to acquire a big player in the industry and transfer some IPs into their portfolio. They also got themselves some mindshare in acquiring what was once the most important developer for Xbox. Kind of like if Naughty Dog were able to leave PlayStation and then Xbox acquired them down the line. It's rubbing salt into the wound.
The state of Bungie today is a pretty poor and sad mess. But if Bungie itself was being mismanaged before and after the Sony acquisition, it's no surprise they've been hit with layoffs and that Sony is now taking a much more hands on approach with them. Business does as business does. I find it very difficult to find much empathy for Bungie itself, though I do hope that people who have lost their livelihood in the recent layoffs are able to land on their feet. It's usually the cogs in the machine that suffer.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
I have a hard time believing Bungie was in that bad a shape in early 2022 when the acquisition was finalized, and Sony still paid $3.6B for a company that was already going down the drain.
Lord Malachite
Member
It comes down to timing, really. Was Bungie insolvent when Sony acquired them? No. They saw insolvency coming down the line. How far down? A few months? A year? A few years? We don't know. But Bungie's internal management obviously decided that the music playing on the deck of the Titanic was going to stop and they didn't want to be caught without a seat, so they sat in Sony's lap.
There's a lot we don't know. What does Bungie mean when they say they were facing "insolvency"? Were they literally looking at having to lock the doors and turn out the lights? Or did they just mean that they wouldn't be "Bungie" anymore in terms of what they'd perceived themselves as for years? Were they going to have to tighten their belts and sacrifice executives and perks? Or were they walking the proverbial green mile to a total death?
$3.6 billion bought the entire package--all the staff and IP and holdings. As far as acquisitions in this industry go, it's not all that much. And the acquisition allowed Bungie to continue living its "lifestyle" for another two years.
Whatever the case, it looks as though Sony is planning to bring them much more into the fold instead of operating with relative autonomy. If Bungie's management is as poor as it seems, I don't think it will make things much worse.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Too high cost of maintenance and keeping people around. Thats probably why so many game studios use contract employees who come and go when their job is done. Bungie seems to have tons of perm employees that dont have enough to do or help drive sales, so it leads to layoffs.
Most game studios (unless they are under a big corporate umbrella) seem to be so hits driven with their 1 or 2 games it always seems like life or death. And even under a big umbrella still can lead to layoffs.
In most big consumer companies like your typical Coke or Nestle, most product lines are profitable. Some more green than others, but most products will be in the green with much more stable every day sales. Thats why they got so many perm employees instead endless waves of temp contractors.
Most games arent sustainable in an every day boring way like selling bread or oranges. It's a project based industry where a games come and go in 5 year waves and most sales are front loaded in the first 6 months unless its a successful GAAS game where theres tons of ongoing sales..... like selling Oreos.
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OGM_Madness
Member
Hopefully Sony cleans the house and forces the studio to do good ol’ smaller games. Bungie was at its prime during the Halo 1-3. And although the Destiny Raids were cool, they are too niche to be casual/mainstream.
Make a regular ass Sci Fi with a campaign, that can be single player or coop and release them every 3-4 years as Exclusives to fill the gap between the Spider-Men, the Naughty Dogs and the Santa Monicas.
Make a regular ass Sci Fi with a campaign, that can be single player or coop and release them every 3-4 years as Exclusives to fill the gap between the Spider-Men, the Naughty Dogs and the Santa Monicas.
RainblowDash
Gold Member
Where all the Destiny 2 money going??
Hudo
Member
Just because it's not a list of things you deem interesting, doesn't mean that ""all"" of the studios are doing badly. That's just not true. And that is my point.
Sorry that you don't seem to like Age of Empires; To me, it's Microsoft's most important IP.
PeteBull
Gold Member
Into woke devs pockets/salaries https://gaymingmag.com/2023/02/all-of-the-lgbtqia-characters-in-destiny-2/
phant0m
Member
Right, and Destiny 2 is basically THE GaaS game. Almost every other studio has been trying to replicate it for at least the last 5 years.
PeteBull
Gold Member
Its not even that, but by now any1 sane can admit they should be done with destiny franchise and either do something like halo but using new ip, or totally diferent gameplay game, not halo, not destiny, but totally new ip.
Its time now, their last halo launched in 2010, so late x360, destiny2 launched in fricken 2017, half or quarter of the studio should work on xpacks/keep destiny2 going but at least half to even 3/4 of the studio, the main team, should have been working on something new.
Gojiira
Member
And doesnt change my point either that MS has huge issues with mismanagement, you can be as dense about this as you want but its pretty well documented at this point.
Hudo
Member
And I never denied that they have large issues with mismanagement. I only denied that all of their studios/IPs are mismanaged.