A former Bungie lawyer has made some illuminating remarks concerning parent company Sony and its wayward, unruly child. Following its acquisition by the PlayStation platform holder in 2022, Bungie has frequently been in the headlines, but rarely for the right reasons.
On that most exciting of all social media platforms, former Bungie general counsel Don McGowan turned up the heat in a LinkedIn post (thanks, IGN), responding to a Kotaku article. McGowan praised the powers that be at Sony for "inflicting some discipline on my former colleagues [which] may have forced them to fix the things that were wrong with their game."
Taking no prisoners, McGowan continued, and qualified: "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 Bungie C-suite; and running the game like a business."
It's not often we hear from corporate lawyers in this context, and it's quite a nice change of pace. Still not done, McGowan's harang continues: "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."
Did Sony wait too long before getting involved? Was Bungie just missing its parent company's guiding, paternal hand? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source linkedin.com, via ign.com]
Comments 38
Sony should have brought the hammer down earlier would have been better for the workers.
@Flaming_Kaiser Trues, but maybe then they would have been deemed to be the bad guys. it is a tricky matter.
Sony bought a lemon.
Sony spent 3 Billion and what they got is a big headache.
Did Sony wait too long before getting involved?
We could say yes but we don't know the details like how f*cked the economy of Bungie was before acquisition and how much could Sony actually do. Keeping nearly half the people Bungie had to let go was a very good first decision now that Bungie Independence is gone.
Was Bungie just missing its parent company's guiding, paternal hand?
I choose to believe so lol. I know some people have this idea that Bungie is a bad developer but they are still doing good stuff, the company side of Bungie was the problem.
Sony already lost the money anyway so the only thing left to do is to make money and save Bungie in the process.
I dont have any internal knowledge, and im sure there are counter examples people could reel off, but the over riding feeling ive always had is that, prior to the Live service push, Sony looked after and helped grow its dev teams - certainly when compared to others.
I’m a creative guy. I work in marketing. My team creates beautiful things, but we aren’t the most disciplined. My boss on the other hand has no creative gene in his body. He understands deadlines and how to clip wings.
It took me a long time to realise it, but it helps to have a boss like that. He lets us be creative, but he keeps us productive. And as a result all of us keep our jobs.
Bungie needs boss Sony to sort them out. And hopefully they will learn the lesson and not run away thinking they know best.
I guess Sony did the right thing and someone should hold the Bungie Bosses accountable and that would be Sony. Let's hope they'll learn from that and we'll have a better future for Destiny's franchise.
The Bungie PR team tried to make it sound more like an injection of cash similar to what they've done with Fromsoft and less like the buyout it was. And Sony never said anything to the contrary and then yes I think they waited far too long to put their foot down.
It was a knee jerk reaction from jimbo ryan in response to M$ spending spree.
While some say it was a thought through strategic decision on Sony's side to purchase bungie it feels more like a shot from the hip panic reaction with ms getting Bethesda and Activision (see what that got them). Sony put too much money on the table making this very high risk.
Where was Sony with some spare change when Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal were up for grabs!? CD by then was even experienced (yet not successful) with the game as service model, since that was the big "strategy" Sony was following (which now hit the wall with concord). Beyond that both studios packed huge IPs that are so ingrained into PlayStation's DNA and they were sold off for Millions... not billions like bungie was.
@Medic_alert Holding the platform and taking a cut on all transactions works today, but there is a potential future where that could change. After the Epic vs Apple case, it is not unthinkable that the likes of Sony might have to open up their own platforms to third party stores at some point.
Of course, that would have much wider ramifications - subsidised hardware would surely be a thing of the past - but it's easy to see why Sony would want a live service cash cow of their own in such a future.
Waste of money buying Bungie.
I hate live service but if they really needed to spend money on live service then they would have bought shares from Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar/GTA/RDR).
@GymratAmarillo "Sony already lost the money anyway so the only thing left to do is to make money and save Bungie in the process"
Save Bungie huh despite losing tons of money. If only they did this with Japan Studio, London Studio, Evolution Studio, Studio Liverpool, Zipper, and Pixelopus...
@Sergo I mean, they already are branded as the bad guy by a lot of people. Might as well lean into it where it is beneficial. Full disclosure, I haven't played Destiny since the first one was released so I have no true idea of the state of the game outside of reading articles. Seems to be a sh*t show from everything I've read.
@JuiceboxMeister I have not yet too. But I do not know why they are so bad. What they did? they made the best console ever and great games. But whatever they give people will never be happy. Even if it is for free.
And yet it was their input that got Factions cancelled??
Bungis is abusing donkeys?
Buying Bungie was not optimal use of 3.6 billion
Still amuses me that Microsoft baited Sony into blowing so much money on this developer, and it's been an almost complete wash.
This is where reactionary business decisions get you.
Now we just need sony to pivot Marathon to a solo/co-op campaign with a decent multiplayer mode.
Whether you like Bungie/Destiny or not, I always come back to, "And how much could Sony have spent on other studios INSTEAD of Bungie, and thus controlled far more IP and had a far broader range of talent and expertise under its umbrella?"
You can't tell me Bungie is an outright better, more creative, more capable development house than the likes of numerous other shuttered or acquired studios combined (Crustal Dynamics, Japan Studio, the list goes on).
If Sony wants a live service hit, the best bet is to let smaller teams cook and create unique experiences that can grow into hits, the same way PUBG and Fortnite and R6 Siege and Rocket League did. None of those games set out to set the world on fire. But over their lifespans, they catered to players, built strong fundamentals, and built large followings. Sony (and many other companies) seem to want to go from nothing to massive smash hit immediately and don't realize that's the hardest, most expensive way to become a hit. You can't run a business by way of playing the lottery.
What they need to learn from Helldivers 2 (despite its tumultuous reputation since release) is that a small team with great ideas can result in outsized performance much more easily than putting an entire single player-focused studio on a multiplayer game just because of an IP (see: Naughty Dog). Go after those HD2-like hits. Get a bigger ROI and build your broader experience in delivering said hits over time. Nurture creativity and original thinking. Let them evolve into a bigger live service game WHEN THE MARKET TELLS YOU THEY WANT IT. But don't go spending hundreds of millions out the gate on something that isn't proven (Concord) or that misaligns with the given talent (again, ND).
@TheDaddyOtaku A-freaking-men.
A modern Marathon (not in-name-only that we’re sadly getting) would be amazing.
@Flaming_Kaiser I believe they had a clause in the contract which prevented Sony management from interfering the running off the company, as long as they met certain agreed targets. They failed to achieve those targets, giving Sony the ability to go in and sort the company out.
The biggest issue I see with Bungie is Destiny 2 is their biggest money spinner, but it's completely inaccessible to new or lapsed players.
I played it a lot at launch, finally got back into it for the Forsaken DLC but struggled even by then as content I'd paid for and loved was gone.
I then tried it again after the next-gen updates, and it's completely beyond me now - there doesn't seem to be a quick way to catch up on the story, and the main areas I remember are all gone, even one that was added in Forsaken (that I paid for!).
With no way to easily bring on new or lapsed players, Bungie runs the risk of their player base slowly but surely lapsing and then not coming back.
The obvious answer is Destiny 3 so everyone can start again with a new story and new players welcome, but apparently that's not even in development according to the leaks?!
If D3 isn't in development that feels like it's risking the studio's future - if Marathon doesn't land well and D2 keeps losing players, it could take till 2030 to create Destiny 3 by which time D2 might not be making enough money to keep the studio alive...
@MFTWrecks Sony tried that by buying Firewalk Studios, which turnout brilliantly..............
Sorry, but until they transition to Destiny 3 their head is still firmly in their A$$.
@knowles2 That's not at all what they did with Firewalk. Dumping $100-300mm into an unproven dev is not at all what I am suggesting.
The part of my comment about wanting to instantly go from zero to a massve hit the market may not even want is explicitly referring to their expectations/strategy for Concord.
Interesting, so it wasn't the big bad Microsoft people tried to make out they were trying to escape.
Overpaid by a couple billion imo.
@Sergo I'd rather be seen as a bad guy and have business done right than losing hundreds of millions of dollars and 100s of employees
Should Sony not rather try and pull their own ass out of their.....? Nnevermind.
Regarding Bungie and the laywer statements. One thing they definetly did not managed to accomplish was giving newcomers an easier entry point into Destiny 2.
Other than that, I still am disapointed in Bungie cutting paied content (or putting it in a vault).
They are a talented developer, they just need guidance and a better layed out roadmap.
I love destiny so hopefully they can pull their heads out their asses.
@Widey85 Bungie vaulting old content that was foundational for the story was the death knell for having a coherent and compelling story that makes it easy to onboard new players. Instead we get snippets and brief summaries and a lot of confusion.
At this point if they can't bring back that content then yeah D3 is the only way they can make something beginner friendly again.
@karmamule Yep when I played again last time they made me do some intro bit on Earth but it seemed to be a few expansions out of date and didn't really tell me the story at all.
At the very least they need a "previously on Destiny 2" video when each expansion releases, but I think the story is too convoluted now.
Destiny 3 would be a great reset and maybe allow them to upgrade the engine or whatever to avoid vaulting content in the future - but if it's true they've not started on it yet I've no idea what they're playing at...
@Widey85 Well they had two games in the works, Marathon, an a 2nd undisclosed game which Sony has now hive off into it own studio, presumably because they didn't trust Bundie management not to screw it up.
Clearly they haven't done enough because destiny 2 is still a scam that nobody should play until they stop stealing paid content and putting it in a make believe "vault"
@knowles2 I believe they should have payed so much for Bungie with so little influence on how they worked.
Also the choice to remove content from the games is baffling if you put Destiny 1 and 2 with all the content and a graphical update would that not be a smarter choice.
It takes away the issue that it's hard for people start en ger invested in the game and you have a lot of content on day one.
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