Former Bungie chief legal officer Don McGowan credits Sony’s discipline for pushing Bungie to focus on new player acquisition and running Destiny 2 like a business, shedding light on behind-the-scenes changes at the studio.
Destiny 2 has seen a whirlwind of changes recently, and according to former Bungie chief legal officer Don McGowan, much of that is thanks to Sony’s influence.
In a new post on LinkedIn, McGowan didn’t hold back his thoughts, saying that Sony has pushed Bungie to make much-needed adjustments to how it handles its flagship game, Destiny 2.
McGowan acknowledged that while recent layoffs are not part of the praise, Sony “inflicting some discipline” on Bungie brought exactly what was needed. “Much though it pains me to say this, it appears that Sony’s inflicting some discipline on my former colleagues may have forced them to fix the things that were wrong with their game,” said McGowan in a post on LinkedIn.
“To be clear: I’m not talking about the layoffs, I’m talking about forcing them to get their heads out of their asses and focus on things like: implementing a method of new player acquisition; not just doing fan service for the fans in the Bungie C-suite; and running the game like a business. Good. I still have friends in that environment and I’d like them to keep jobs.”
Destiny 2’s New Annual Model: Two Mini Expansions
This follows Bungie’s significant overhaul of Destiny 2’s business model, with the game’s next era, codenamed Frontiers, shifting from annual expansions to a more dynamic approach featuring two “medium-sized” expansions each year, and four free content updates.
McGowan reflected on Bungie’s transition following its acquisition by Sony in a $3.6bn deal, emphasizing how the deal was initially misunderstood by many within the company.
“This is the future I thought the company should embrace after the Sony acquisition: a studio, not an ‘independent company’. But there were a lot of egos for whom it was important to pretend that ‘nothing would change’.
“I remember sitting there during the deal saying ‘Do you think Sony describes this as them getting to pay $3.6 billion for the right to have no input into what Bungie does?’ That was exactly what a lot of people thought.
“I guess they’ve been given cause to understand that that’s not how things work. Good. The changes described in this article are the things you do to run a franchise, not to keep making the game you and your friends have mastered, or to chase trends.”
In February 2024, Sony Group’s chief operating officer, Hiroki Totoki, noted that Bungie has “room for improvement” in business operations, particularly regarding the “use of business expenses and assuming accountability for development timelines.”
