Destiny 2 Dev Bungie Hit With Layoffs, Just 15 Months After PlayStation Acquisition

Bungie is another game developer to face layoffs by 2023. Bungie was purchased last year by PlayStation for $3.6billion. Former Bungie employees have announced their layoffs on Twitter. Bloomberg has confirmed with its sources that an undisclosed number of staff were laid off today. 

Bloomberg According to reports, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons said that staffers would be “hearing news” later on today and that there will then be a “team meeting” in order “to discuss today’s event.” 

As for why employees were laid off, that remains unclear, especially as the company is set to release a massive Destiny 2 expansion – The Final Shape – that’s set to end the decade-long saga that began in the first Destiny game. Bloomberg states that its sources say The Final Shape has been delayed internally to June 2024, months after its previously announced February 27, 2024 release date. 

Game Informer The story will be updated if we learn more. 

Sony acquired Bungie in January 2022 for $3.6 Billion. The purchase was completed by July 2022. This layoff comes less than 2 years after the Bungie purchase. 

Bungie’s layoffs are part of a growing list of studios that have been laid off in recent years. 2023 is, by all reports, one of the most successful gaming releases in history. In January, Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees amidst its ongoing $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which it completed earlier this month. 

In August, Striking Distance Studios, the team behind last year’s The Callisto Protocol, laid off more than 30 employees, and that same month, Mass Effect and Dragon Age developer BioWare laid off 50 employees, including long-time studio veterans. The following month, in September, Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios laid off roughly 45% of its staff. 

Just this month, The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog has laid off at least 25 employees, and Telltale Games has gone through layoffs as well, although an actual number of laid-off employees has not yet been revealed.  Media Molecule’s Dreams studio laid off 20 workers last week. 

Hearts of the People Game Informer The staff is with all those who are affected and the ones still in studio. 

[Source: Bloomberg]