Destiny 2 falls short of Sony’s expectations after Bungie acquisition

Sony leadership has discussed its expectations of Destiny 2 following its $3.6 million acquisition of Bungie in 2022.

In its latest financial results, the Japanese firm recorded an impairment loss against a portion of Bungie’s assets in relation to Destiny 2.

As Sony chief financial officer Lin Tao explained during an earnings call (via Investing.com), the “level of sales and user engagement” of the online shooter “have not reached the expectation [it] had at the time of the acquisition of Bungie.”

“While we will continue to make improvements, we downwardly revised the business projection for the time being,” Tao added.

Despite this, Tao did note that Sony’s live service game segment accounted “for more than 40% of [its] first-party software revenue.”

Speaking of first party titles, Tao also highlighted the success of Ghost of Yōtei which surpassed 3.3 million units in its first month of release.

“Building on this recent progress, we aim to strengthen our studio business and expand our IP franchises through continuous learning and improvement,” she said.

Sony was also asked about the ongoing development of its team-based shooter, which was delayed indefinitely back in June.

Following the publication of its Q1 results in August, Tao said Sony expected Marathon to launch “within the fiscal year.”

She reiterated this goal, adding that Sony is “fully dedicated to launching the title as scheduled.”

“We assume that we will launch this within this year, and that is included in the forecast,” Tao noted.

The CFO also touched upon the PlayStation 5’s lifecycle, noting that the console was “only in the middle of [its] journey.”

“Our view is that, compared to conventional console life cycles, and looking at the PS4 life cycle, it seems to be getting longer and longer,” said Tao. “Especially the PS4, which was launched in 2013, and it’s been over a decade since then. There are many active users enjoying the console, and they are enjoying the other consoles.

“From that perspective, we believe that the PS5 is only in the middle of the journey. We are really planning to expand it even further.”

She concluded: “As for the future launches and successors, we are not in a position to make any comments about that.”