Bungie’s Matter Cancelled in 2020, Senior Leadership Expected to Leave in 2026 – Rumor

Amid growing fears for Bungie’s future after Destiny 2 under-performed last year, sources told IGN that Matter, a new IP trademarked in 2018, has been cancelled.

Oddly enough, the development team worked on a similar project with a “slightly different direction,” but it was cancelled in late 2022. Gummy Bears, a MOBA-like title, is still alive but is currently in a “holding pattern” amid ongoing uncertainty within Bungie.

While it was never officially announced, reports first emerged of Gummy Bears in August 2023. At the time, Bungie described one of its incubation projects as a “team-based action game inspired by several genres in a brand-new, science-fantasy universe.” Some of those genres included platformers, MOBAs, life sims and so on “wrapped up in a lighthearted, comedic world.”

It also seems that following the remaining payouts from Sony’s acquisition, there’s an expectation that leadership will depart in Summer 2026. Bungie is thus pushing to release Marathon before that happens, which could explain the replacement of Christopher Barrett as game director with Joe Ziegler last year.

Meanwhile, Destiny 2: The Final Shape launches on June 4th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 and PC. Marathon doesn’t have a release date, but rumors claim it’s been delayed to 2025.