Bounty cannot just die like that since there will always be an ico for a new project I believe that the fact that lots of bounties are not paying is due to the bear season that is being around, so bounties and so cannot die
If ICO's could not manage to reach their soft cap then definitely they won't pay the coin to the bounty people. Some companies after raising the money they will cheat both the bounty and investors and that's why we have to choose them wisely before participating in any bounty campaign.