As Destiny 2 fans bid farewell to the game after its final update, controversy is brewing in the community around Bungie's new project – the extraction shooter Marathon. Players are massively comparing the online numbers of the two games, not in favor of the new title, accusing it of "killing" their beloved franchise.
However, Liana Ruppert calls the direct comparison of the two projects' online numbers a manifestation of ignorance.
"Marathon was never designed to show Destiny 2-level numbers. These discussions were openly held even in the early stages. The game is much closer to Escape from Tarkov than to Destiny."
Ruppert added that the projects have completely different target audiences, which simply overlap significantly due to Destiny's massive player base.
According to her, the root of Bungie's current financial problems also does not lie in the deal with Sony. On the contrary, the Japanese corporation literally saved the independent team from collapse.
"This battle began even before Sony. Before the acquisition, Bungie was beyond the brink," Ruppert said in response to comments from disgruntled fans. She emphasized that if the studio had not been bought out then, it would have been very close to a complete shutdown or, at the very least, would have ceased support for Destiny. According to her, the $3.7 billion deal was an emergency acquisition.
Will Bungie be able to generate interest in Marathon?
Liana Ruppert understands that her words will cause dissatisfaction among some of the community, but she emphasizes the harsh reality: currently, the only way to keep Bungie alive is to play and support Marathon. Instead of demanding that management create a completely new game in a familiar universe, players should help the studio stay afloat.
Sony itself does not have inflated expectations that Marathon will reach the scale of Destiny. According to Ruppert, if the publisher considers the new game successful, it will continue to invest in Bungie's projects, which will allow the studio to retain its team and someday undertake a full-fledged Destiny 3.
If Marathon fails, the studio risks losing its status as an independent developer and becoming an auxiliary service team for other internal PlayStation studios.