Bungie is laying off 220 employes, and integrating further into Sony

Bungie is laying off 220 staff, in what CEO Pete Parsons calls “of the most difficult changes we’ve ever had to make as a studio.” This news comes mere days after the mind-blowing conclusion to the second major Act of Destiny 2‘s first Episode, and only a month after the launch of The Final Shape.

In a candid blog post, Parsons cites “rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions” as the reasons it’s had to eliminate so many staff. He adds that “it has become clear that we need to make substantial changes to our cost structure and focus development efforts entirely on Destiny and Marathon.” Both IPs now seem to be its main focus.

More of Bungie will become Sony over the following quarters

Parsons outlined the next steps the company is taking to secure its future. “First, we are deepening our integration with Sony Interactive Entertainment, working to integrate 155 of our roles, roughly 12%, into SIE over the next few quarters.” While it’s great that these 155 staff haven’t lost their jobs, they’re still leaving the studio, and I can’t help but wonder how that will affect them. More will also be spinning out into a new studio:

“Second, 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. ”

Alongside the layoffs, then, even more employees are being spun out into other ventures under the broader Sony umbrella. In the latter case, though, the staff at least appears to be still working on the project they were already on.

Sony acquired Bungie back in 2022. Since then, the studio has experienced layoffs, and the feel at work has reportedly been “soul-crushing.”

As a Destiny fan who has been playing this franchise since the first Alpha and has thoroughly enjoyed the new Episodes format, this news sucks. Destiny 2 hasn’t felt this good in years, and now 220 of the people responsible for making that happen are losing their jobs. Of course, this is a matter of business, but so many people leaving will almost certainly have an impact on the future of this game, just as it’s getting back on its feet.

I feel it’s important to highlight this line from the blog post about who is affected by these layoffs: “These actions will affect every level of the company, including most of our executive and senior leader roles.”

I’m used to seeing marketing, QA, and other lesser-known but still very important departments getting cut before anyone on a senior level loses their job. In that sense, it does appear as though the 220 roles being eliminated have been carefully considered, and aren’t a move to protect any particular executive or senior level.

Parsons ends the post with, “Bungie will continue to make great games. We still have over 850 team members building Destiny and Marathon, and we will continue to build amazing experiences that exceed our players’ expectations.”

We’ll see where this year takes Bungie following such a huge number of losses. Destiny 2 needs support as a live service game, and Marathon will need the same once it’s finally been released. It’s absolutely gutting to hear that the developer of such a great game is being forced to make cuts like this, but no matter how bad it feels as a fan, it clearly feels so much worse for those affected, and those who still remain.