An online petition calling on Sony to greenlight the development of Destiny 3 has seen over 120,000 signatures, but it seems unlikely that the game will be made.

Developer Bungie shocked the gaming world this week when it announced the last update for Destiny 2 was set for June, effectively bringing to an end the Destiny era that began with such fanfare back in 2014. There has been much hand wringing since, with some expressing concern for the future of Bungie itself amid impending layoffs and the failure of Marathon — Bungie’s recently released ultra hardcore extraction shooter — to break out.

All the while, there is a growing call for Bungie to develop Destiny 3, with one online petition calling on Bungie parent company Sony to approve development of the game. With over 120,000 signatures and rising, the petition’s creator, Harley Casto, said “the desire for new adventures, fresh storylines, and innovative gameplay features is palpable among players everywhere.”

“We believe in the potential of Destiny 3 to inspire new generations of gamers and to keep the fire of the Guardian spirit alive,” Casto continued. “Join us in petitioning Sony to take this leap forward. Sign the petition to show your support for Destiny 3 and help us bring our love for this series to the next level. Together, let’s make Destiny 3 a reality.”

Is it likely that Destiny 3 will be made? According to Bloomberg, Bungie will suffer “significant” layoffs in the near future as a result of the end of Destiny 2 support, and Destiny 3 is not actively in the works. Bungie reportedly plans to continue pitching ideas in the Destiny universe, but there’s no suggestion Destiny 3 is among them.

But why? For many Destiny fans, Destiny 3 always sounded like an obvious next project for Bungie after the story-ending The Final Shape expansion was released in June 2024. So why didn’t Bungie have a team work on Destiny 3 two years ago? The answer, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier said in a post on social media, had to do with “how much money it would take.”

Triple-A development costs have ballooned over the course of Destiny’s life, to the point where it can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce a video game. Indeed, Marathon reportedly had a budget of over $250 million. The initial development deal for Sony’s ill-fated live-service shooter Concord was around $200 million, according to a report by Kotaku. In 2023, new documents submitted as part of the Xbox Federal Trade Commission case accidentally revealed The Last of Us: Part II and Horizon Forbidden West each cost more than $200 million to develop. Last year, the astronomical development budgets of the Call of Duty games were revealed for the first time after a court document confirmed Activision pumped $700 million into Black Ops Cold War alone, although that was over the shooter’s life cycle.

So, at a time when the video game industry is struggling, PlayStation is cutting costs and hiking the price of its consoles, and the live service graveyard welcomes a new permanent resident every month or so, it feels unlikely that Sony will bet big on Destiny 3.

All of which means that this may very well be the end of Destiny, which is why you’ve probably seen various social media posts from fans waving goodbye and reminiscing about all the good times they had with the franchise. Meanwhile, Sony is backing further work on Marathon, which will see new content released as Bungie works to improve player numbers.

Destiny 3, though… well, despite hundreds of thousands of fans signing an online petition hoping to will it into existence, it may well remain just a dream.