In a letter published on the official website, Bungie announced that it has laid off 220 employees, accounting for 17% of the total workforce. The conversation was led by CEO Pete Parsons, who shared “some of the hardest changes we’ve ever had to make as a studio”. The substantial restructuring was due to increased development costs and changes in the industry, as well as current economic conditions, focusing development efforts entirely on Destiny and Marathon.
These actions will affect all levels of the company, including most executive roles and senior leaders. Pete continues to emphasize in the letter that today is a difficult and painful day, “especially for the colleagues who are leaving”, who have all made significant and valuable contributions to Bungie. The company’s goal is now to support them with the utmost care and respect. For all those affected by this job reduction, the team will offer a severance package, which includes a payout, bonus, and health coverage.
After facing the economic reality of the past year and exhausting all other mitigation options, this has become a necessary decision for Bungie to realign the studio and its operations with more realistic goals and sustainable finances. This is despite the positive results of The Final Shape.
Furthermore, the team is engaging in two other major changes to support the goal, leveraging Sony’s strengths and creating new opportunities for Bungie talent.
First, the team is deepening integration with Sony Interactive Entertainment, working to integrate 155 roles, about 12%, into SIE in the upcoming quarters. SIE is working to identify roles for as many people as possible, allowing them to save together many talents who would otherwise have been affected by the workforce reduction.
Second, it is collaborating with management from PlayStation Studios to spin off one of the incubation projects, an action game set in a new sci-fi fantasy universe, and form a new studio within PlayStation Studios to continue its promising development.
Bungie still has over 850 team members continuing to work on Destiny and Marathon, and they will keep building new experiences.
