Bungie’s Canceled Project Payback Was A Third-Person Spinoff Set In Destiny Universe

Following layoffs at Bungie that affected more than 220 people, more details about what the Sony-owned developer has been up to have emerged, including more information about a canceled Destiny spinoff called project Payback that would have taken the franchise in a much different direction. According to a report from Bloomberg, Payback would have been

Following layoffs at Bungie that affected more than 220 people, more details about what the Sony-owned developer has been up to have emerged, including more information about a canceled Destiny spinoff called project Payback that would have taken the franchise in a much different direction.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Payback would have been played from a third-person perspective, a departure from the first-person perspective used in Destiny. It was said to have taken inspiration from popular free-to-play third-person games like Warframe and Genshin Impact and would have allowed players to explore a large open world while cooperatively battling enemies and solving puzzles.

“,”480”:”nnnnnnnnnn

Now Playing: Destiny 2: The Final Shape Review

Payback was canceled two months ago, according to the report, and the majority of Bungie is now working on Marathon, a reboot of an old Bungie IP from the 90s reimagined as an extraction shooter. The Marathon reboot was officially announced last year and is now said to be aiming for a 2025 release. As noted by Bloomberg, Payback was not Destiny 3, which has never been in development.

Some of the studio is still working on Destiny 2 as well, though Bungie is said to be moving away from annual expansion releases. Instead, it will focus on free content updates while also attempting to create a smoother onboarding process for new players, as well as a possible rebranding.

This is the second round of layoffs to hit Bungie recently following Sony’s acquisition of the studio in 2022. Late last year, around 100 Bungie developers were let go and Destiny 2’s The Final Shape expansion and Marathon were both delayed as a result. Bungie CEO Pete Parsons at the time said the company had missed its revenue targets by 45% and was losing money.

He said much the same in a blog post announcing the most recent round of layoffs, stating the developer was “overly ambitious, our financial safety margins were subsequently exceeded, and we began running in the red.” The layoffs were already in the works, according to Game File’s Stephen Totilo, prior to the positive critical reception and release of The Final Shape in June.

In addition to the layoffs, multiple Bungie veterans, including Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy, have departed Bungie this week, parted ways with the developer this week. Around 155 other Bungie developers will be absorbed into Sony Interactive Entertainment, while yet another group of Bungie employees will be spun out to create an entirely new studio under Sony.

Total
0
Shares
Leave a Reply
Related Posts
Imane Khelif being allowed to fight Angela Carina was one of the most egregious and dangerous Olympic contests since ancient times, writes DAVID JONES
Read More

Imane Khelif being allowed to fight Angela Carina was one of the most egregious and dangerous Olympic contests since ancient times, writes DAVID JONES

Bounding into the ring, to a rousing chorus of ‘Volare’ from the large Italian contingent in the 5,000 crowd, Angela Carina looked every inch a woman. Her luxuriant raven hair, which she wears loose when not on duty as police officer in Naples, was wrapped in a blue bandana. Her tight chest-guard and baggy blue
EXCLUSIVERevealed: Wife who bravely rushed to protect her lieutenant colonel husband from ‘machete-wielding’ attacker is a star of the Military Wives Choir and appeared on ITV chat show Lorraine
Read More

EXCLUSIVERevealed: Wife who bravely rushed to protect her lieutenant colonel husband from ‘machete-wielding’ attacker is a star of the Military Wives Choir and appeared on ITV chat show Lorraine

The wife of a lieutenant colonel who rushed to his aid after he was stabbed outside an Army barracks in Kent is a star of the Military Wives Choir who appeared on ITV's Lorraine to talk about her work. Eileen Teeton, née Duffy, who dashed to her Royal Engineer husband's aid as he was stabbed