This month, Bungie announced that it would cease active support for Destiny 2. The final update is being prepared for the looter-shooter.
Former Valve writer Chet Faliszek noticed the situation and decided to speak out. He is concerned about what will happen to Bungie next — many may be laid off. In a recent video, he asked: "So, are we watching the end of Bungie now?", and immediately added:
I'm not saying this to gloat or to shout "the game is dead" or anything like that, but simply because I'm very sad: the closure of Destiny 2 on June 9 means they no longer need a bunch of people to support Destiny 2, and they are not making Destiny 3.
He believes that Sony will not launch Destiny 3 into development, as companies strive to invest in "immortal" games, and Bungie's project is not one of them:
You could say the game had a long and successful run, and it really did, but big live-service games last forever. After all, Counter-Strike has been around since 1997. Right? These games, once they find their audience, can live forever. And that's what publishers are aiming for.
Separating a company to develop many small projects, according to the writer, will also not work. Even with such an approach, a large budget will be needed for promotion, because "nobody cares about small games."
As an example, he cited Valve's experience with TV advertising for Left 4 Dead 2 — in 2008, it cost about $35 million. Since then, prices have become even higher:
So no matter how much you spend on the game itself, you spend almost as much on its promotion.
The video is available at the following link.
The release of the final update for Destiny 2 is scheduled for June 9. Bungie is also preparing a new season for the extraction-shooter Marathon — the launch is also expected early next month.
Earlier, Chet Faliszek spoke about a potential Half-Life sequel — he definitely would not work on a new game.