The announcement that the nine-year-running Destiny 2 is finally shutting down hits its fanbase hard. Still, for many, the immediate assumption would be that Destiny 3 is already somewhere on the drawing board. After all, despite weak performances from Destiny 2 and Marathon reportedly contributing to a massive $765 million impairment loss, Sony did spend $3.6 billion to acquire Bungie in the first place. But according to a recent report, the reality may be far less reassuring.
According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, one of the biggest reasons why Bungie never immediately moved toward Destiny 3 after The Final Shape DLC came down to a simple issue. “The answer (as it usually is) is how much money it would take,” Schreier wrote on Bluesky.
The comment raised questions about why Sony would suddenly hesitate to pursue an expensive project with a dedicated fanbase, after years of approving massive budgets for PlayStation exclusives. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 reportedly exceeded $300 million in development costs, while the bombed hero shooter Concord allegedly burned through around $400 million.
Upcoming projects such as Wolverine and Insomniac’s third Spider-Man game are also rumored to already be creeping past the $300 million mark. Who knows how much money the PlayStation maker has poured into Naughty Dog’s biggest and ‘most expensive’ project, Intergalactic, and the live-service game Fairgame$. The latter only had a cinematic trailer to show off three years ago and seems to be rebranded as Break In.
Bluesky user Gavo sarcastically remarked, “Company that has no issue letting Naughty Dog spend 5+ years and $300 million on a single player title now concerned about spending money on a new MMO shooter with a built in fanbase, just fantastic.”
Schreier’s reply? “Oh they definitely have an issue with that,” referring to Sony now questioning its studios’ massive development budget and stretched timelines. “There’s absolutely nothing vague or open to interpretation here. Sony, like most game companies, has an issue with development costs swelling beyond $300 million and timelines going beyond five years,” he later stressed on the ResetEra gaming forum.
The statement lines up with growing concerns about ballooning development budgets all over the gaming industry. Previously, Schreier has said that the numbers floating around AAA development are often at $300 million or ‘sometimes much more.’ That estimate doesn’t even include marketing or executive pay, which could easily double that.
However, even before all of this, Sony’s flagship exclusives were already becoming increasingly expensive. Official reports revealed that The Last of Us Part II and Horizon Forbidden West crossed $200 million in development costs. Including Marvel’s $106.5 million licensing fee, even the more modestly budgeted Miles Morales also ends up in the same range.
Still, maybe it is not too late for Sony to start changing course. In a 2025 interview, CEO of SIE Studio Business Group Hermen Hulst said the company’s new mantra is to ‘fail early and cheaply.’ Then the real question is: can Sony’s promise actually lead to more and smaller first-party games over the next few years?
