In late July, Bungie announced a major layoff: the company is laying off 220 people and another 155 are moving to Sony, the studio’s owner. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier (Jason Schreier), as usual, hurries to share insights.
According to the journalist, among the fired were several veteran executives who worked in Bungie for decades. Among them are Luke Smith (Luke Smith) and Mark Noseworthy (Mark Noseworthy).
The downsizing has hurt the teams responsible for narrative, sound, and player support.
Schreier spoke to 10 former and current Bungie employees. Many condemned CEO Pete Parsons – he got away with failed decisions and unfounded optimism. In particular, Parsons and other bosses relied on the “magic of Bungie” – say, in time, the situation will get better, no matter how bad it was.
In 2023 at one of the meetings Parsons said that Bungie did not fulfill the revenue plan by 45%. The studio then postponed the release of action-shooter Marathon and add-on Destiny 2: The Final Shape, and laid off about 100 professionals.
Bungie had high hopes for the unannounced third-person action game Payback. In it, players would explore a vast world in the Destiny universe and team up to defeat monsters and solve puzzles. Warframe and Genshin Impact were mentioned among the sources of inspiration. Although some gossip sites referred to Payback as a Destiny threequel, Schreier writes that the project was positioned as a spin-off.
Two months ago, Bungie canceled Payback and shifted the bulk of the team to creating Marathon.
In June, Destiny 2 received The Final Shape add-on. The add-on garnered rave reviews, but its commercial results didn’t inspire the bosses. During a recent meeting, one of Bungie’s leaders said that the sales of expansions for the action movie
- Some of Schreier’s sources believe that Destiny 2 will be fine. The studio wants to retain fans and attract newcomers with free updates – as an example, the developers cited the April update Into the Light, which offered a fresh mode. A new story is also planned, with worlds and characters that have yet to be revealed in the Destiny universe.
- There is no Destiny 3 in production, nor has there ever been. Instead of taking on a third installment, Bungie is looking for ways to lower the entry threshold for Destiny 2.
- Severance packages for laid-off employees include at least three months’ salary and access to health care.