Destiny Developer Bungie Cuts 220 Workers: ‘Some of the Most Difficult Changes We’ve Ever Had to Make as a Studio’

In the meantime, Bungie is working with PlayStation Studios to spin out one of its incubation tasks, an motion sport set in a brand-new sci-fi universe, to type a new studio inside PlayStation Studios “to proceed its promising improvement. ”

“This will probably be a time of large change for our studio,” Parsons mentioned.

Parsons went on to clarify how Bungie received to this level, confirming that the studio had been “working in the pink” after its monetary security margins had been exceeded following delays to each The Closing Form and Marathon and a fast enlargement that “stretched our expertise too skinny.”

Over 850 workers stay at Bungie constructing Destiny and Marathon, Parsons mentioned.

This is the assertion in full:

This morning, I’m sharing with all of you some of the most troublesome modifications we’ve ever had to make as a studio. Due to rising prices of improvement and trade shifts as effectively as enduring financial situations, it has change into clear that we’d like to make substantial modifications to our value construction and focus improvement efforts totally on Destiny and Marathon. 

Meaning starting in the present day, 220 of our roles will probably be eradicated, representing roughly 17% of our studio’s workforce.  

These actions will have an effect on each degree of the firm, together with most of our govt and senior chief roles.   

As we speak is a troublesome and painful day, particularly for our departing colleagues, all of which have made vital and helpful contributions to Bungie. Our objective is to help them with the utmost care and respect. For everybody affected by this job discount, we will probably be providing a beneficiant exit package deal, together with severance, bonus and well being protection.

I understand all of that is exhausting information, particularly following the success we now have seen with The Closing Form. However as we’ve navigated the broader financial realities over the final 12 months, and after exhausting all different mitigation choices, this has change into a vital resolution to refocus our studio and our enterprise with extra reasonable objectives and viable financials.

We’re committing to two different main modifications in the present day that we imagine will help our focus, leverage Sony’s strengths, and create new alternatives for Bungie expertise.

First, we’re deepening our integration with Sony Interactive Leisure, working to combine 155 of our roles, roughly 12%, into SIE over the subsequent few quarters. SIE has labored tirelessly with us to determine roles for as many of our folks as attainable, enabling us collectively to save a nice deal of expertise that might in any other case have been affected by the discount in pressure.   

Second, we’re working with PlayStation Studios management to spin out one of our incubation tasks – an motion sport set in a brand-new science-fantasy universe – to type a new studio inside PlayStation Studios to proceed its promising improvement.  

This will probably be a time of large change for our studio.

Let’s unpack how we ended up on this place; it’s vital to perceive how we received right here. 

For over 5 years, it has been our objective to ship video games in three enduring, world franchises. To appreciate that ambition, we arrange a number of incubation tasks, every seeded with senior improvement leaders from our present groups. We finally realized that this mannequin stretched our expertise too skinny, too rapidly.  It additionally compelled our studio help buildings to scale to a bigger degree than we may realistically help, given our two main merchandise in improvement – Destiny and Marathon. 

Moreover, in 2023, our fast enlargement ran headlong into a broad financial slowdown, a sharp downturn in the video games trade, our high quality miss with Destiny 2: Lightfall, and the want to give each The Closing Form and Marathon the time wanted to guarantee each tasks ship at the high quality our gamers count on and deserve. We had been overly formidable, our monetary security margins had been subsequently exceeded, and we started working in the pink.

After this new trajectory grew to become clear, we knew we had to change our course and pace, and we did all the pieces we may to keep away from in the present day’s final result. Even with exhaustive efforts undertaken throughout our management and product groups to resolve our monetary challenges, these steps had been merely not sufficient.  

As a outcome, in the present day we should say goodbye to unbelievable expertise, colleagues, and pals.

This will probably be a difficult time at Bungie, and we’ll want to assist our group navigate these modifications in the weeks and months forward. This will probably be a exhausting week, and we all know that our group will want time to course of, to ask questions, and to soak up this information. As we speak, and over the subsequent a number of weeks, we’ll host group conferences and city halls, group breakout classes, and personal, particular person classes to guarantee we’re protecting our communication open and clear. 

Bungie will proceed to make nice video games. We nonetheless have over 850 group members constructing Destiny and Marathon, and we’ll proceed to construct superb experiences that exceed our gamers’ expectations.   

There will probably be a time to speak about our objectives and tasks, however in the present day is just not that day. As we speak, our focus is on supporting our folks.

In March, a number of sources instructed IGN that Bungie was in the midst of shifting round its artistic management on Marathon, together with eradicating long-time Bungie designer Christopher Barrett from the sport director function. IGN discovered he was being changed by former Valorant sport director Joe Ziegler, who left Riot Games for Bungie in 2022.

At the time, IGN was instructed that Bungie was pouring sources into getting Marathon out the door. The sport’s route had shifted considerably underneath Ziegler’s new management, one supply mentioned, together with shifting away from customized participant characters in favor of a selectable solid of heroes.

There have been additionally inner fears and rumors that layoffs would instantly observe the launch of The Closing Form, with one supply saying “nothing provides up” and “one thing will want to occur to curb prices except The Closing Form does so effectively to cowl the hole and other people can transfer to Marathon.”

Sadly, these fears have now been realized.

Bungie has discovered itself rocked by a quantity of main shake-ups in recent times which have tanked morale at the studio and left its future unsure. Sony formally acquired the studio mid-2022, with the promise it will largely retain a semblance of freedom as an impartial subsidiary. Sources instructed IGN that is largely remained true, however Bungie has struggled to meet key monetary targets, with Destiny 2 considerably underperforming final 12 months.

In October, Bungie laid off roughly 100 of its then-1,200 workers amid larger cost-cutting measures that noticed Marathon delayed to 2025 and worker advantages slashed, additional damaging the temper internally.

Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You may attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.