According to statements from insider Jeff Grubb in a recent episode of Game Mess Mornings, following the recent string of layoffs, a game codenamed “Payback” and internally referred to as “the next Destiny” has been canceled. Additionally, Grubb reiterated that the title was technically not known to be Destiny 3. “What is going on the shelf is Payback. This is what was also leaked and reported to be maybe Destiny 3– technically not Destiny 3. Internally, they would refer to it as ‘the next Destiny’. I don’t know if the distinction is there, but they think there’s a distinction there.
“But that is going on the shelf indefinitely, according to the people I’ve talked to. Either way, let’s be clear, a ‘Destiny 3’ or ‘next Destiny’ is just not the thing that they are going to be coming out of this looking toward let alone working on in any real way.” However, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier added to the rumors stating that the canceled project was not “Destiny 3″ but instead a spinoff title that was canceled a long time ago. “Just to clear up some rumors floating around, Destiny 3 was not canceled because it was never in development, per people familiar,” he said. “Bungie did some very early work on a spinoff project called Payback, but they canceled that a while ago. I’ll have a story tomorrow with more info”.
Just to clear up some rumors floating around, Destiny 3 was not canceled because it was never in development, per people familiar. Bungie did some very early work on a spinoff project called Payback, but they canceled that a while ago. I'll have a story tomorrow with more info
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) August 1, 2024
Bungie chairman and CEO Pete Parsons recently announced that the company will be laying off 220 staff members which comes to 17 % of its workforce. The company states that this change is a result of “rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions”. According to the CEO, these actions will “affect every level of the company, including most of our executive and senior leader roles.” Additionally, Bungie is working with PlayStation Studios leadership to spin out an action game “set in a brand-new science-fantasy universe—to form a new studio within PlayStation Studios to continue its promising development.”
