What you need to know
- Sony’s Destiny 2 and Marathon developer Bungie is seeing another wave of job cuts, with 220 employees being let go.
- An additional 155 employees are being moved into different jobs across Sony Interactive Entertainment, with another handful forming a new team under PlayStation Studios.
- This comes months after Bungie let 100 employees ago shortly before the delay of multiple projects.
- Bungie launched its widely-anticipated expansion, Destiny 2: The Final Shape, to critical acclaim just weeks ago.
As a researcher who has closely followed the gaming industry for years, I find myself both disheartened and bewildered by the latest news from Bungie. Having witnessed the meteoric rise of this iconic studio and its groundbreaking games like Destiny 2 and Marathon, it is truly unbelievable to see such a massive wave of job cuts, especially after the release of Destiny 2: The Final Shape, which was critically acclaimed.
After a brief recess for summer announcements, the nonsense is continuing.
On Wednesday, it was announced by the studio responsible for Destiny 2 (owned by Sony) that they are reducing their workforce once again, letting go of approximately 220 employees. This equates to around 17% of their current staff members. It’s important to note that this decision follows a previous round of layoffs less than a year ago, where about 100 employees were let go, representing 8% of the company’s workforce at the time, which consisted of 1,200 people.
Further cuts at Bungie are planned beyond these layoffs, but these cut employees won’t be losing their jobs. Instead, they’ll be transitioned over to new roles at Sony, with 155 workers (an additional 12% of the existing workforce) taking new jobs across Sony Interactive Entertainment. Finally, another handful of Bungie employees are being spun out as a new team under PlayStation Studios, where they will be working on a science-fantasy action game.
According to Bungie CEO Pete Parsons, “We set our goals too high, which led us to surpass our safety nets for finances, causing us to operate at a loss.” Recognizing this new direction, we understood the necessity of altering our path and pace. We took every possible measure to prevent today’s situation, but despite extensive efforts made throughout our management and product teams to tackle our financial difficulties, those actions fell short.
It’s unclear whether any leaders at Bungie experienced salary reductions or were impacted by the job losses as well.
In 2022, Sony purchased Bungie for approximately $3.6 billion, aiming to transform Bungie into a globally recognized multi-media entertainment entity that would collaborate with PlayStation.
Bungie employees blame leadership
Present and past employees from Bungie have expressed strong opinions about this move, with the ex-community manager of Destiny 2, Liana Ruppert, urging Parsons to resign.
Step down, Pete. https://t.co/I5d7L8kcfqJuly 31, 2024
These words were echoed by another former staffer, Griffin Bennet.
Executive leadership is refusing to accept responsibility for the downfall of a renowned software developer or simply withholding bonuses as a solution, instead choosing to handle it internally on July 31, 2024. It’s high time, Pete, that you retire.
Dylan Gafner, commonly recognized by gamers as “DMG” and the global community lead of Destiny 2, deemed the cuts as unjustifiable.
Regrettably, once more we’re facing the loss of top-tier professionals in our industry. It’s unacceptable and it’s those who have consistently contributed to our community who are bearing the brunt. Let’s keep in mind those who’ve been displaced and strive to extend assistance wherever possible. [Link provided for further information] https://t.co/SSDveUd5uW (July 31, 2024)
Analysis: Unbelievable
It was unfortunate to witness Bungie’s previous round of layoffs, but it wasn’t an anomaly within the gaming industry. During the pandemic period, companies like Microsoft’s Xbox division, Sony’s PlayStation, Riot Games, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, and numerous others experienced rapid growth. Interestingly, even these giants have reduced their workforce and closed studios since 2023.
Currently, it seems that Bungie is pressing forward at a rapid pace after receiving high praise for Destiny 2: The Final Shape’s compelling storyline which skillfully connected various narrative strands from the last decade, making it one of the top games on Xbox, PlayStation, and Windows PC. With their focus now shifted to Marathon, the fate of Destiny is becoming increasingly uncertain following these recent layoffs.
Otherwise, my remaining thoughts right now are with the employees and their families.
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2024-07-31 19:39