Bungie Announces Mass Layoffs Less Than Two Months After Destiny 2: The Final Shape's Launch

As a long-time fan of Bungie and their incredible work on the Destiny franchise, I can’t help but feel a mix of emotions upon hearing about this recent round of layoffs and the shift in development for their new game.


As a long-time fan of Destiny and a follower of the gaming industry, I find myself saddened by the recent news coming from Bungie. Having witnessed layoffs at other studios in the past, I understand that these decisions are often difficult ones made in response to changing market conditions or project cancellations. However, it’s still hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for those affected and the uncertainty they now face.

In light of escalating development costs, changes within the industry, and persistent economic challenges, it seems inevitable that we must significantly restructure our expenses and channel all development efforts exclusively towards Destiny and Marathon, according to Parsons.

The executive mentioned that job cuts are affecting all ranks within Bungie, with the majority of executive and senior leadership roles being affected as well.

All those impacted by the reductions will receive an attractive deal, encompassing severance payments, additional rewards, and medical coverage for a certain duration.

According to Parsons, Bungie is planning a closer tie with its major company, Sony Interactive Entertainment. This move involves around 12% of Bungie’s current workforce transitioning into roles within Sony Interactive Entertainment over the coming months.

Furthermore, according to Parsons, Bungie is collaborating with Sony (PlayStation) to transition from their current “nurturing projects” into a fresh PlayStation studio. This new studio will carry on developing the game mentioned. The game is an action title set within an innovative “sci-fi fantasy” universe, as shared by Parsons.

“This will be a time of tremendous change for our studio,” Parsons said.

It seems that Bungie initially intended to manage multiple experimental projects simultaneously, with seasoned developers leading each project. However, this strategy proved unsuccessful. Parsons explained why they ended up having to make significant changes.

It became apparent over time that the implementation of this model put excessive strain on our team’s abilities, growing rapidly. Additionally, it necessitated an expansion of our studio infrastructure beyond what was practically manageable, considering our ongoing work on Destiny and Marathon as our main projects. This is according to Parsons. (Paraphrased for clarity)

Additionally, Parsons pointed out that Bungie’s strategy encountered an unexpected obstacle in the form of a widespread economic recession, coupled with a significant decline in the video game market as a whole. Furthermore, Destiny 2: Lightfall did not meet Bungie’s desired level of quality.

He stated that we had set our goals too high, which led us to exceed our financial safety limits and start operating at a loss. Recognizing this new direction, we understood the necessity of altering our path and pace. We made every possible effort to prevent today’s result, even going so far as to intensively work on resolving our financial difficulties throughout our management and product departments. However, these actions proved insufficient.

After recent job cuts and organizational changes, over 850 Bungie staff members are now dedicated to developing both Destiny and Marathon projects, according to Parsons.

Following the well-liked release of Bungie’s expansion pack, “The Final Shape,” for Destiny 2, this significant event occurred.

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2024-07-31 19:09