Bungie today announced a massive round of layoffs due to continued struggles with the rising cost of game development.
Destiny 2: The Final Shapewas a massive hit critically, but not even the well-regarded finale to the Light and Darkness saga could prevent today’s tragic news. In apost on their website, Bungie CEO revealed that the studio has laid off 220 employees, or 17% of the company’s workforce. Parsons cited the increasing costs of game development as well as the continued uncertainty around the global economy as the main factors.
He further explained that the company had grown too quickly, spreading its team too thinly across Destiny 2, Marathon, and several ambitious incubation projects. According to Parson, this spreading of talent caused problems that turned the heavily criticizedDestiny 2: Lightfallinto a ‘quality miss,’ and caused Marathon’s delay. In the end, Bungie was running in the red.
Bungie Cuts Staff in October Following Delayed Destiny 2 Expansion
Further integration with PlayStation
Bungie was fully acquired by Sony back in 2022, but did not become a part of PlayStation Studios. Instead, the developer would be allowed to operate independently outside of PlayStation control as long as the studio operated well. Back then, there was high hope that Bungie could lend its expertise to Sony’s stable of upcoming live service games. Unfortunately, then came Destiny 2: Lightfall, which triggered a downward slope in engagement and in-game purchases for the title. Rumors of a PlayStation takeover have been swirling for a while now, and it appears that that is what is happening.
As part of today’s announcement, Bungie revealed that 155 other employees are moving to roles within PlayStation. Furthermore, another75 employeesworking on an incubation project will form another studio under PlayStation to continue their work. It remains unknown if Herman Hulst, CEO of the Studio Business Group, will oversee Bungie moving forward.
“We are working with PlayStation Studios leadership to spin out one of our incubation projects – an action game set in a brand-new science-fantasy universe – to form a new studio within PlayStation Studios to continue its promising development,” said Parsons.
Bungie’s future
Despite the massive hit to its workforce, Bungie continues to employ over 850 team members. While PlayStation will handle the new IP the company has been incubating, the studio will continue to focus on Destiny and Marathon. Destiny 2 is already midway through its first “Episode” of post-launch support, which contains hints of what might come in future Destiny expansions. Perhaps today’s announcement might pave the way for a potential Destiny 3. As for Marathon, Bungie has not revealed any additional details about the game since its initial reveal in May 2023.
