Destiny 2 developer Bungie is laying off an unspecified quantity of folks, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons confirmed Monday after workers started talking up in regards to the job cuts on social media.
Reached for remark, a Bungie consultant pointed Polygon to Parsons’ statement on X (previously Twitter) and didn’t make clear the scope of the layoffs. Dozens of ex-Bungie workers have since posted on social media platforms like X and LinkedIn to share the information that they have been impacted by the layoffs. The layoffs seem like unfold throughout Bungie’s neighborhood and social groups, advertising, authorized, recruiting, artwork, human assets, high quality assurance, and elsewhere.
“Today is a sad day at Bungie as we say goodbye to colleagues who have all made a significant impact on our studio,” Parsons wrote. “What these exceptional individuals have contributed to our games and Bungie culture has been enormous and will continue to be a part of Bungie long into the future.” (Parsons’ submit has acquired a whole lot of responses on X, a number of of which have been important, utilizing phrases like “tone deaf” to explain Parsons’ assertion.)
Sony Interactive Leisure bought Bungie in 2022 in a $3.6 billion deal. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan, who’s stepping down from the corporate in March, said at the time that the studio “will remain independent and multi-platform [and] will enjoy creative freedom.” A Washington Post report revealed days after the acquisition stated Bungie management informed staff there would no “absolutely no layoffs” in consequence of the acquisition. Sony additionally introduced that it meant to spend $1.2 billion on worker retention — “deferred payments to employee shareholders, conditional upon their continued employment, and other retention incentives,” (*2*).
Bungie’s layoffs on Monday come throughout a disastrous time interval for recreation trade staff: Hundreds of folks have been laid off this yr. Fortnite maker Epic Video games laid off greater than 800 workers in September; Epic CEO Tim Sweeney stated the corporate has been spending greater than it’s making. Gaming conglomerate Embracer, identified for quickly buying recreation studios, is chopping heaps of jobs and canceling video games, too. Saints Row developer Volition was fully shuttered by Embracer, placing a whole lot of folks out of work.
It’s not solely the large firms partaking in layoffs, although: Firms of various sizes have been half of the troubling development, like Telltale Video games, which minimize jobs in October, and Immortals of Aveum creator Ascendant Video games, which laid of half of its staff in September.
