Sony Isn't Bailing On Marathon Despite Bungie's Poor Earnings

"“In our studio business, earnings from Bungie's title portfolio did not reach our expectations,” Sony CFO Lin Tao said during Friday's earnings call. “So we downwardly revised our business plan and impaired the full amount of the fixed assets related to Bungie except for goodwill.”"

"“Player receptions to Marathon is strong, with the game receiving a Metacritic score of 82 and more than 90 percent of the player review on Steam being positive,” Tao said. “Engagement metrics such as retention also remain at a high level. Going forward, we aim to improve the performance of the game by working to retain highly engaged core users through the introduction of additional content, further improvements in the game play experience and expansion of the user base.”"

"That impairment cost was measured at roughly $560 million, bringing the total downgrade of the $3.6 billion Bungie acquisition for the year up to $765 million. A big portion of that no doubt comes from Destiny 2 's player base falling off a cliff after last year's expansion was lackluster and the newest content update was delayed by three months."

"But it likely also reflects failing to meet the ambitious sales targets you might expect to be attached to the first new shooter from the makers of Halo in over a decade. Sony didn't reveal official sales figures for the game's first month or the total number of players reached, which some data firms have estimated to be between 1 and 2 million. But instead of pulling the plug like it did with Concord, Sony told investors it's going to work on improving the game."

Sony reported that earnings from Bungie’s title portfolio did not meet expectations, leading to a downward revision of its business plan and an impairment of fixed assets related to Bungie, excluding goodwill. The impairment was about $560 million, increasing the total downgrade of the $3.6 billion Bungie acquisition for the year to $765 million. Sony cited factors including a decline in Destiny 2’s player base after a weak expansion and a delayed content update. Sony did not provide official Marathon sales or player totals, but stated that player reception is strong, with an 82 Metacritic score and over 90% positive Steam player reviews. Sony plans to improve Marathon by retaining core engaged users through additional content, gameplay improvements, and expanding the user base.

Read at Kotaku