- Bungie was developing a game described as the ‘future of Destiny’ back in 2024.
- It was hero-focused, comparable to Genshin Impact in structure, where you’d play as different Destiny heroes.
- The project was canceled in the summer of 2024 after Destiny 2 Final Shape DLC came out.
Bungie faced a lot of outcry after announcing it was sunsetting Destiny 2 and pursuing significant layoffs a few months ago. The game still harbors an incredibly loyal community, so much so that it made the studio reconsider its decision earlier this week.
The company announced it is unvaulting all Destiny 2 campaign content from over the years, alongside teasing prospects of new projects for the future.
An insider now =reveals that Bungie was already developing a new game in the series codenamed Project Payback back in summer 2024, which was eventually canned.
Why it matters: Bungie ditched the idea of Destiny 3 because of budget and demographic concerns. Instead, the studio wanted to develop a hero-focused spin-off that would attract a new player base not used to Destiny’s deep lore.
Jason Schreier reveals in a new YouTube video that Bungie was working on the ‘future of Destiny,’ which was a hero-focused entry that would have steered away from the series’ usual formula.
The insider describes it as something akin to Genshin Impact in structure, where you’d play as different Destiny heroes. Although the monetization would have still been different.
one of the things that Bungie was trying to do was […] this new game that was codenamed Payback that was being run by Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy who were kind of the Destiny franchise overlords.
-Insider, Jason Schreier.
However, Bungie canned the project shortly after Final Shape DLC came out for Destiny 2. The developers weren’t sure whether to call it Destiny 3 or a spin-off yet, as its gameplay was unique.
It would have focused on attracting a younger, newer demographic unfamiliar with Destiny lore.
A mainline Destiny 3 was also not being developed as of mid-2026 due to several concerns, such as cost barriers. The project would have been incredibly expensive, requiring $500-$600 million to deliver the scale that players expect.
Even a $100 million to $300 million scaled-down version was described as incredibly risky. Bungie was also concerned that Destiny may only attract an existing, aging player base instead of a new audience because of heavy lore focus.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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