Popular Destiny 2 Youtuber Aztecross, who has just over 800k subscribers, has received an anonymous email from someone who writes in a fashion that indicates they are a Sony employee, detailing a very strained relationship between Sony and Bungie.

Now, according to Aztecross the Email was sent to him, his agency and his individual agents, indicating that the person who wrote the message wanted to ensure he saw it. It was written using a throwaway account and Aztecross doesn’t mention being able to verify the sender or the information, so take everything with a pinch of salt. Most of what is written about is already known or suspected, but the Email does go into further detail about a civil war brewing between Bungie leadership and its employees, and Sony’s current feeling toward the company.

Of course, we do know that Sony’s acquisition of Bungie hasn’t been the massive success it was hoped to be. It wasn’t too long ago that the new CEO of PlayStation, Hiroki Totoki, was quite brash in his comments about Bungie, stating that while they had incredibly talented workers, there was “room for improvement from a business perspective with regard to areas such as the use of business expenses and assuming accountability for development timelines. I hope to continue the dialogue and come up with some good solutions.”

Bungie themselves are seemingly in a rough state right now too. They’ve been failing to meet targets which puts them at risk of Sony stepping in and taking full control of the company, as per the original contract of sale. The Destiny 2 community hasn’t been very happy with the game’s state, either.

Which brings us to the Email. I’ve typed out the whole thing below so you can read through it, but if you can’t be bothered then here are the key takeaways:

• Bungie is currently viewed by Sony as a failed investment.
• An internal US leader wants to take over and hopefully right the ship. Other people across the Pacific want a “harsher” method. The US leader has a lot of respect, and is likely to get his/her way.
• The US leader believes that current Bungie leadership is “gluttonous” and are stopping the talented developers at the studio doing their job properly.
• Pre-order numbers are lower than expected.
• Sony believes that even with another round of layoffs, the finances will not be good enough to stop them taking over. The Email also indicates Sony doesn’t want more layoffs as it would “cannibalize development and future revenue.”
• Lightfall did hit internal targets, but since then every goal has been missed at an “escalating decline.”
• Bungie leadership is regularly rescheduling meetings with Sony, even when they know the next available timeslot will be months away.
• Sony wants to “nurture” Destiny 2 and want to treat it as “lighting in a bottle.”
• The main point of the US vs Japan battle is future development. If Japan gets its way, teams for future titles will be “gutted and reformed.”

Here’s the Email in full, typed out based on exactly what Aztecross displayed in his video.

Hey there,

I’m writing this on a throwaway. Please use this info to corroborate other sources you may have.

Internal perspective at Sony is very negative towards Bungie right now. It is seen as a failed investment and strategies being discusses^[sic] revolve around more of recouping losses. One internal leader from US is fighting to take over to right the ship, while many others across the Pacific want a much harsher method. The former US leader holds a lot of respect from overseas leadership, so it is likely (s)he will get their way. That person’s perspective is that there are a many ‘gluttonous’ executives at Bungie who are not doing their jobs and are hindering the organization. It is believed that the workers are skilled, but the leadership is unable to perform their duties.

Bungie is in a hard spot, because pre-order numbers are lower than anticipated. I apologize, I do not have details on actual numbers. Sony believes that the finances will not allow Bungie to avoid a takeover even with another round of layoffs, as that would cannibalize development and future revenue.

Overall, Sony has been very upset at Bungie leadership. They have not been able to successfully advise Sony teams, and while Lightfall hit internal revenue targets, every target since has been missed at an escalating decline. Bungie leadership regularly reschedule meetings with Sony leadership, know that the next timeslot can be months away.

I hope this sheds light for ongoings from Sony’s side. It is believed that the takeover would allow Sony to turn Destiny into a more profitable game. This sounds bad, but it is being treated as ‘lightning in a bottle’. Sony leadership wants to nurture the game, and understand that more aggressive monetization would not be healthy. There would be a monetization model switch, though, as it is believed the current model is too confusing. The main difference between the US leader vs Japan leaders getting their way matters more for Bungie’s in-development titles. If Japan leadership gets their way, teams for future titles will be gutted and reformed.