LogInThe studio parted ways with 17% of its workforce.
Bungie
The Destiny developer Bungie has announced a new wave of layoffs, cutting 220 positions, which is about 17% of its workforce, including those in the executive and senior leader roles. Its CEO Pete Parsons called it "some of the most difficult changes we’ve ever had to make as a studio."
"Due to rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions, it has become clear that we need to make substantial changes to our cost structure and focus development efforts entirely on Destiny and Marathon. "
He said Bungie will be "deepening" its integration with Sony Interactive Entertainment by transferring 155 employees there and working with the 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."
However, this might not be the only bond with SIE. According to insider Jeff Grubb, SIE's CEO Hermen Hulst now runs the studio.
"In time, Bungie will lose its autonomy and will become like any other PlayStation Worldwide Studio under SIE and Herman Hulst," he believes.
Parsons says the decision was made because working on 3 franchises was too difficult and the studio's "rapid expansion" ran into "a broad economic slowdown, a sharp downturn in the games industry, our quality miss with Destiny 2: Lightfall, and the need to give both The Final Shape and Marathon the time needed to ensure both projects deliver at the quality our players expect and deserve."
Something had to give, and this something was a part of the company's talent.
What do you think about PlayStation possibly taking over Bungie? Read more about the layoffs here and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.