According to Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, before Bungie's acquisition by Sony, the studio was simultaneously working on five or six projects. These included Destiny 2, Marathon, and several other games with a service model.
Schreier revealed this in a new video, noting that Sony expected to receive several games from Bungie that were supposed to be released in subsequent years. However, over time, "most of these projects fell apart" for various reasons.
At the time of the deal, Sony viewed Bungie not only as a Destiny developer but also as a kind of expert in creating and developing service games. The company intended to use the studio's experience to evaluate its own multiplayer games.
However, the subsequent years proved significantly more difficult for Bungie. In June, the studio announced massive layoffs, resulting in a significantly smaller staff. According to reports on the restructuring, the layoffs affected 292 jobs in Washington state. Some of the laid-off specialists were working on Destiny 2.
In July, Marathon game director Joe Ziegler also left Bungie. His duties were taken over by Del Chafe III, and Julia Nardin became the project's creative director. Bungie stated that both leaders have the necessary experience to continue the development of Marathon.