Ex-Bungie employees have commented on struggles facing the company following accusations of plagiarism for Marathon and big changes behind the scenes of Destiny 2Tech15:17, 22 May 2025Updated 15:17, 22 May 2025Destiny 2's Edge of Fate is just a couple of months awayDestiny 2 developer Bungie can't catch a break at present. Shortly after revealing a series of expansions for the game, its other project, a Marathon reboot, was hit by plagiarism accusations that have sent the historic studio scrambling to remove stolen art assets just months before launch.While owner Sony has reportedly set a high target for Marathon, the furore surrounding the game has seen former developers speak out about Bungie leadership and decisions made in recent years.‌Now, it's been suggested that Bungie leadership had pitched a subscription model for Destiny 2 which was "vehemently shot down" by the development team.‌Shared by Destin Legarie, former employees at the studio have suggested that there is a "toxic work culture" that involves "humiliation, HR working in their own best interest, and leadership mismanagement".With Destiny 2 having been around since 2017, with regular seasonal updates and annual expansions, leadership reportedly considered a subscription model that was shut down down "vehemently" by developers on the game.Article continues belowLegarie's video paints a picture of Bungie leadership doing its best to squeeze every penny out of Destiny 2, even going so far as to complain that one in-game armour set would be "too attractive with its glow effect" and might stop players from spending real money on cosmetics.Expect to learn a lot about The Nine in Edge of FateAnother employee said staff were "scolded" about monetising the game, while another said "everything happening to Bungie is because of greed".‌Forbes reported over the weekend that "Morale is in 'free-fall” at the studio, with staff concerned the Marathon plagiarism concerns could spell the end for Bungie's autonomy.One former developer at the studio reportedly told Legarie that Bungie becoming a part of PlayStation would be "the path forward" for the studio previously owned by Microsoft.Destiny 2's next expansion, Edge of Fate, is planned for July 2025, while its successor, Renegades, will bring a Star Wars inspired aesthetic in December.‌Bungie has committed to two mid-sized seasonal expansions each year, with sizeable free patches in between, instead of launching a large DLC and multiple seasons.We've reached out to Bungie for comment for this story.For more on Destiny, check out our hands-on with the latest Sprayground backpack collab,Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.‌‌‌

Former Bungie employees have claimed that the studio's management was "toxic and shut down creatives on a core level."

Former Bungie developers blame corporate ‘greed’ as cancelled subscription plans revealed Adam Starkey Published May 22, 2025 1:32pm Updated May 22, 2025 1:33pm A marathon of issues (Sony Interactive Entertainment) Former staff at Destiny developer Bungie have spoken out about the studio’s downfall, citing ‘disconnected leadership’ and a toxic work culture. Bungie were once one of the most respected developers in the world, following their work on Halo and Destiny, but the situation at the studio is drastically different as we approach its next project, Marathon. Since the launch of Destiny 2 in 2017, the studio was acquired by Sony and subject to several rounds of layoffs. While job cuts have been widespread across the industry over the past few years, the situation at Bungie goes beyond post-pandemic cuts; with missed financial targets leading to drastic structural shifts. Reports of leadership mismanagement at Bungie have cropped up before, but several ex-employees have now spoken out about their own experiences within the studio. In a video by YouTuber Destin Legarie, former employees at Bungie cite various reasons for the studio’s decline, including a ‘lack of player empathy, disconnected leadership, and a corporate-first culture’. The recurring point of contention is the studio’s ‘toxic’ leadership, who allegedly ‘shut down creatives on a core level’ and prioritised monetisation over player satisfaction. According to one ex-employee, staff received a huge ‘scolding’ in a meeting with leadership over monetisation. ‘Everything happening to Bungie is because of greed,’ said one former employee. This alleged push for further monetisation was presented in various ways. One source claimed the studio’s leadership pitched the idea of adding a subscription model to Destiny 2 at one point, but the idea was ‘vehemently’ shut down by the team. Another source claimed Bungie leadership were concerned the Trials Of Osiris PvP armour was ‘too attractive with its glow effect’, which might negatively impact Eververse sales (Destiny 2’s cosmetic store). Destiny 2 launched as a paid-for game but it became free-to-play in October 2019, with DLC expansions being sold separately. The next expansion, The Edge Of Fate, is set to launch on July 15, 2025. The video features other allegations, including ‘HR working in their own best interest’ and claims leadership undermined the ideas of staff in public. ‘If they didn’t think of it, it wasn’t worth doing,’ one former employee said. GameCentral has reached out to Bungie for comment. Marathon is in trouble too (Sony Interactive Entertainment) One former employee suggested these issues have now ‘just shifted to Marathon instead’, which is currently in the middle of a plagiarism scandal, after an ex-artist at the studio took assets from someone else’s work without permission. More Trending As detailed in livestream last week, Bungie is currently in the process of ‘auditing all of the previous work by the internal artist’ and is looking to remove ‘anything which is questionably or inappropriately sourced’. Beyond this controversy, Marathon hasn’t exactly hit the ground running. A closed alpha test last month was met with mixed reactions, which has reportedly led to several changes to the game’s future plans. Marathon is set to launch on September 23 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, but all signs suggest it could be delayed. More expansions are coming to Destiny 2 (Bungie) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Bungie management "vehemently shut down" Destiny 2 subscription idea, as reports of toxicity continue Prioritised "monetisation over player experience". Image credit: Bungie News by Ed Nightingale Deputy News Editor Published on May 22, 2025 Bungie once considered a subscription model for its online shooter Destiny, but the idea was "vehemently shut down" by management. Destiny 2 went free-to-play in 2019, but players need to pay for the most recent DLC expansions. There's also a store for paid cosmetics. Other MMOs, such as World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy 14, run on a subscription model, where players pay a monthly fee for access. According to a new report, Bungie considered this but management decided against it. Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate | Official Gameplay RevealWatch on YouTube The news comes as part of a report into the current state of Bungie, following word last week that Bungie morale is in "free fall" following the fallout of stolen assets used in its next game, Marathon. YouTuber and journalist Destin Legarie has spoken to former employees this week. Bungie management were described as "toxic and shut down creatives on a core level", with one former employee stating: "If [management] didn't think of it, it wasn't worth doing." In this context, when one employee brought up the possibility of a subscription model, it was reportedly "vehemently shut down". In another example, management was concerned the glowing Trials of Osiris PvP armour was too attractive, which would impact sales of armours in the Eververse store. Decisions by management "prioritised monetisation over player experience", a former Bungie employee said. Another added: "Everything happening to Bungie is because of greed." One former employee surmised: "Bungie's problems stem from a lack of player empathy, disconnected leadership, and a corporate-first culture." Eurogamer has contacted Bungie for comment. In 2024, Bungie CEO Peter Parsons was criticised for spending millions of dollars on classic cars. This news followed a round of layoffs where 220 staff, roughly 17 percent of the company's workforce, lost their jobs. Last week, Bungie admitted to including designs in Marathon without the artist's consent. And this wasn't the first time Bungie had made this mistake. The company showed off Marathon back in April. It's a PvP extraction shooter set to release on 23rd September this year.

In Brief Posted: 11:52 AM PDT · May 21, 2025 Image Credits:Erik Dreyer / Getty Images LM Arena, the organization behind popular AI leaderboards, lands $100M LM Arena, a crowdsourced benchmarking project that major AI labs rely on to test and market their AI models, has raised $100 million in a seed funding round that values the organization at $600 million, according to Bloomberg. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and UC Investments, which manages an investment portfolio for the University of California, led the fundraising. Lightspeed Venture Partners, Felicis Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins also participated. Founded in 2023, LM Arena has become something of an AI industry obsession. Primarily run by UC Berkeley-affiliated researchers, LM Arena has partnered with companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic to make flagship models available for its community to evaluate. LM Arena was previously funded through a combination of grants and donations, including from Google’s Kaggle data science platform, a16z, and Together AI. Recently, it’s been accused by some researchers of helping top AI labs game its leaderboard — accusations that LM Arena has vehemently denied. Topics

20 Frank Lloyd Wright Houses That Changed AmericaThroughout the architect’s 70-year career, he created new blueprints for living that are still relevant to this dayWith a career that spanned 70 years, there are no shortage of facts about Frank Lloyd Wright to dissect. But it’s not just his buildings that offer fodder for intrigue, the architect was equally a magnet for personal controversy. With three wives and eight children (seven biological, one adopted), Wright spent much of his adult life racking up sensational, though not untrue, headlines like “Suit ends Wright Romance; Sculptress Who Fled With Architect to Japan Obtains Alimony” (New York Times, 1925) or “Issue Warrant for Wright; Architect's Wife Seeks to Re-enter Their Wisconsin Home” (also New York Times, also 1925). Each refers to the personal tumult that seemed to follow the architect through much of his adult life.Scholars have long been tempted to link these fascinating personal dramas to the singular genius of Wright’s work, particularly in how the architect would come to shape 20th-century home life in the U.S. But for all that’s common knowledge about Wright, there are a number of tantalizing details lying just below the surface. Below, ten little-known facts that offer a glimpse into the architect’s fascinating life.The most fascinating facts about Frank Lloyd Wright1. Wright’s childhood nursery was decorated with engravings of English cathedralsIn his autobiography, Wright discusses how his mother prophesied his future as an architect, decorating his nursery with buildings to encourage this development. She also famously purchased her son a Froebel Gifts block set, and used it heavily in his early childhood education.2. Wright abandoned his practice for a year in 1909 to run away with Mamah Borthwick CheneyThe pair were first connected in 1903 when Cheney and her husband Edwin commissioned Wright to build their Oak Park, Illinois, home. The amorous couple abandoned their spouses, children, and lives (and Wright his practice) in 1909 to spend a year together in Europe before relocating to Taliesin in 1911. This elopement would estrange Wright from several of his children for decades to come.The Edwin Cheney house in Oak Park, Illinois Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust3. A disgruntled servant carried out a brutal seven-person murder at Wright’s Taliesin estate in 1914While Wright was away on business in Chicago in 1914, a disgruntled servant at Taliesin set the structure’s living quarters on fire before murdering seven of the home’s residents, including Wright’s then-partner, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. The incident has been dramatized several times, including in an opera called Shining Brow (the English translation of “Taliesin”) that premiered in 1993 and the 2007 novel Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.4. Wright was vehemently against the American Institute of Architects (AIA)Wright was famous for his disdain for other architects, and he refused to join the AIA. According to the biography Frank Lloyd Wright by Meryle Secrest, Wright would refer to it as the “American Institute of Appearances,” and make other disparaging remarks about the institution publicly. “His slights had the effect of maintaining the gulf between himself and other professionals and of adding further weight to the idea of himself as a gifted maverick, an iconoclast,” Secrest writes. Even so, the organization awarded the architect its gold medal in 1949.Wright with Olgivanna Lazovich Hinzenburg ullstein bild5. In 1926, Wright was arrested in violation of the Mann Act, a stipulation that made it illegal for men to transport women across state lines for “immoral” purposesThough his divorce with second wife Miriam Noel was not yet final in 1926, Wright was already in a committed relationship with the woman who would become his third wife, Olgivanna Lazovich Hinzenburg. The pair had met at a Russian ballet and had a daughter together, Iovanna, in 1925. In 1926, Wright drove with Olgivanna to a cottage in Minnesota, crossing state lines and leading to a night in the county jail. The charges would later be dropped, and the pair would be formally married in 1928.Frank Lloyd Wright, the Fashion MuseFrom collaborations with Kith to partnerships with Maya Brenner, America’s favorite architect remains a steadfast source of inspiration for designers of all kinds6. Wright dabbled in fashion designWright was known for his obsessive eye for detail, insisting on specific furnishings and challenging clients who threatened to compromise his vision for their homes by trying to inject their own taste into the spaces. According to Wright biographer David Hanks, this interest in the total environment led him to create select clothing as well. The architect designed dresses for his wife Catherine Tobin Wright and female clients. Though little documentation exists around the designs, two images are shown in Hanks’s book The Decorative Designs of Frank Lloyd Wright.

In Brief Posted: 11:52 AM PDT · May 21, 2025 Image Credits:Erik Dreyer / Getty Images LM Arena, the organization behind popular AI leaderboards, lands $100M LM Arena, a crowdsourced benchmarking project that major AI labs rely on to test and market their AI models, has raised $100 million in a seed funding round that values the organization at $600 million, according to Bloomberg. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and UC Investments, which manages an investment portfolio for the University of California, led the fundraising. Lightspeed Venture Partners, Felicis Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins also participated. Founded in 2023, LM Arena has become something of an AI industry obsession. Primarily run by UC Berkeley-affiliated researchers, LM Arena has partnered with companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic to make flagship models available for its community to evaluate. LM Arena was previously funded through a combination of grants and donations, including from Google’s Kaggle data science platform, a16z, and Together AI. Recently, it’s been accused by some researchers of helping top AI labs game its leaderboard — accusations that LM Arena has vehemently denied. Topics