Sony’s latest earnings report has hit the airwaves, and it’s not painting a pretty picture. The company is dwelling on some enormous losses, the most important of which concerns Bungie, the studio acquired by Sony for $3.6 billion in 2022. Sony confirmed an enormous $765 million impairment loss tied directly to Bungie, which has struggled since launching Marathon just two months ago.
This write-down reveals a dire situation for Bungie, which isn’t proving to be the valuable gem it once was post-acquisition. The concerns are being exacerbated by Marathon’s inability to retain players, even while Bungie tries to innovate in the extraction space, one of the most volatile genres in the business.
Marathon Leads to Massive Mark-Down
Marathon dropped on March 5th to a mixed reception, with many having issues with the game’s divisive art style, over-complicated UI, and attempt to build something drastically new in the extraction space, a genre that doesn’t entirely need new.
Bungie is yet to reveal much in the way of numbers for Marathon, but taking what we know from Steam’s public data, it’s clear that the player count is wavering past a point of desperation. At the time of writing, Marathon boasted just 6,000 players on Steam, with a 24-hour peak of around 15,000.
It’s being outclassed by almost every other major extraction title on the market, even those that launched months – or years – before it.
The recent impairment revealed by Sony in an all-new earnings report was backed by a 24% drop in operating income year-over-year, slipping below analyst expectations. The PS5 has shipped almost 100 million units, but the volume of consoles sold is starting to slow amid ongoing component struggles impacting the global market.
In the numbers, it was confirmed that Bungie had brought about a $765 million impairment loss in the last year, with $565 million of that coming from the last quarter. This means that Bungie’s inherent value has dropped a huge amount compared to what it’s worth on Sony’s books. The sudden deprecation is undoubtedly linked to the issues plaguing Marathon both pre- and post-launch.
The expectation is that Bungie will not be able to recoup those losses, simply because the games it’s producing (or has produced) can’t stump up the cash.
Are you surprised to learn that Marathon is having such an awful impact on Bungie, and by association, Sony? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that the Switch 2’s price is being raised
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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