Sony Loses $765 Million with Bungie but Does Not Abandon Marathon

Sony closed the fiscal year 2025/2026 with a depreciation loss of 120.1 billion yen (approximately $765 million) attributed to Bungie, the studio acquired in 2022 for $3.6 billion, which is now valued much less. Despite this, the PlayStation company has confirmed its long-term support for Marathon with the aim of avoiding a repeat of the Concord scenario.

The loss materialized in two distinct moments: an initial depreciation of about $204 million in the second quarter, related to the decline of Destiny 2, and a second loss of around $565 million in the fourth quarter, coinciding with the launch of Marathon on March 5, 2026. According to estimates, the title sold about 1.2 million copies for a gross revenue of about $55 million, against an estimated development budget of over $250 million.

Player numbers tell the same story: Marathon peaked at 88,337 simultaneous players on Steam on the launch day, a figure already considered disappointing for the game's ambitions. Since then, the number of players engaged simultaneously in the game has collapsed to fewer than 12,000, and Marathon has never managed to consistently enter the top 10 of the most played titles on any platform, whether PS5, Xbox Series X/S, or PC.

Sony Keeps Going, But With Reservations

After already burying Concord a few months after its launch in what constituted another costly bet on live service, Sony cannot afford to burn a second high-profile title in quick succession. As reported by Forbes, the company has reiterated its commitment to Marathon as a pillar of its live service strategy, although admitting that performance has not met expectations so far. Bungie itself published a formal commitment to support the game for "many years," accompanied by a detailed technical guide for optimizations on PC.

From a consolidated financial standpoint, the damages caused by Bungie's situation have not sunk the entire gaming division: the Game & Network Services segment closed the year with revenues essentially unchanged and an operating profit up by 12%. The problem is the concentration of losses on a single asset. For a deeper understanding of the financial context related to Sony's latest fiscal results, check out this analysis.

Bungie, Three Years Later

The acquisition has led to multiple rounds of layoffs, a CEO replacement, and a delay of over a year for the game even before its release. Furthermore, 70% of Marathon's sales were concentrated on PC via Steam, while the PS5 share stands at 19%, a particularly uncomfortable figure for those who presented the title as a flagship exclusive of the PlayStation ecosystem. Sony indicated that it expects further losses related to the acquisition in the fiscal year 2026, without specifying the extent.

With the video game market in a state of eager anticipation for the release of Grand Theft Auto 6, Sony and Bungie have tried a path that is too difficult with Marathon, a title aimed at a narrow audience considering its hardcore mechanics and delicate balances.