Following Bungie’s layoff news, several insiders have shared updates on their projects, starting with Destiny 3. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, sources within Bungie confirmed that Destiny 3 was never actually in development, contrary to previous rumors. The studio experimented with a spin-off project codenamed Payback for some time, but it was eventually shelved before the latest layoffs.

The project called Payback was overseen by Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy. This new initiative was intended to be the next big Destiny experience, specifically not Destiny 3. Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy are no longer at Bungie; they were let go. Payback has been shelved, and the current strategy is to take Destiny 2 and create smaller experience packs that last six months instead of the previous annual expansions. There will be two smaller experience packs per year.

Instead, Bungie will continue to support Destiny 2, but in a different way. In a newly published Bloomberg article, Schreier added that the new Destiny 2 experience packs will be free. Bungie is also planning to explore new worlds with a fresh cast of characters for the storyline.

This strategy shift was corroborated by another Destiny leaker, who mentioned there would be two DLCs and two seasons per year, each with a seasonal narrative, loop, and two rally events.

Jeff Grubb also mentioned that Bungie will be essentially managed by PlayStation Studios Head Hermen Hulst, losing its previously recognized autonomy after the Sony acquisition. “The process is beginning to remove their autonomy. They will no longer operate as an independent studio under Sony; they will function like any other PlayStation worldwide studio under Sony Interactive Entertainment, with Hermen Hulst overseeing them as he does with other Sony studios.”

Beyond Destiny 2 support, Bungie remains focused on rebooting Marathon as a competitive extraction shooter and developing a third franchise in collaboration with PlayStation Studios.

Source: WCCFTECH