Bungie Hit By Layoffs Once Again Despite Success of Destiny 2: The Final Shape

I am still trying to understand this after reading the post from Pete Parsons, the current CEO of Bungie. In October of last year, Bungie cut 8% of its studio, blaming it on "poor player retention" following Lightfall's release, as reported by Bloomberg. The currency that Bungie was bringing in was reportedly running 45% below expectations for that year, despite the concurrent spike of players on Steam; Destiny 2: Lightfall struggled in the weeks and months after release, and even I saw it. The expansion felt cookie-cutter-esque, while Strand and Tormentors were a neat addition, the story felt rushed, and the cutscenes felt improperly placed. But today, July 31st, Parsons talks in a lengthy post about "sharing with all of you some of the most difficult changes we've ever had to make as a studio."

Once again, Bungie's leadership is slashing 17% of its studio workforce due to "rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions." Reading this article boils my blood because coming off the Final Shape, which to date was the best expansion next to The Taken King for a multitude of reasons. Continuing to read Parson's blog post, two significant shifts are also occurring. Following the acquisition by Sony back in 2022, 155 of the 220 employees, or roughly 12%, will move over to the parent company in a palpable move to further reduce the need for more layoffs. Also, they are working with PlayStation Studios Leadership to bring a project out of incubation, which they describe as an "action game set in a brand-new science-fantasy universe," and to accomplish this; a new studio will need to be formed to continue its "promising" development. And while they are offering generous exit packages that include severance, bonus, and health coverage, this doesn't excuse the incompetence that leadership is showing if, once again, they are laying off half of the studio that worked so hard to deliver the best expansion for Destiny 2.

Dylan Gafner, current community lead on Destiny 2, tweeted his thoughts about the whole layoff situation on X, calling it "inexcusable." As news of these layoffs begin to make their way around the community, many now former Bungie devs are reacting to the layoffs, and it was reported that Parsons locked his X account as the layoffs were announced this morning. As reported by Kotaku, when news of the layoffs began making their rounds, many fans of the company and games industry colleagues searched for Pete Parsons X account only to find that he set his account to private, which meant only pre-existing followers of Parsons could see his posts and respond to him. As of now, though, he has unlocked his account, most likely reacting to the criticisms he was already receiving as many mocked his "be brave" quote on his bio, but this little gesture does nothing as some employees found out they were being laid off from the post.

Youtube: Paul Tassi

Amid this sad news, many now former employees, fans of Bungie, and voices from around the games industry are calling for Parsons to take further accountability and step down as CEO. Griffin Bennett, a former developer with Bungie from 2018 until the 2023 layoffs, responded to the announcement calling out Parsons, demanding he quit and calling him a "joke." Former VFX artist Ben Platnick went even a step further, saying, "Pete needs to fucking go. This is mismanagement at the highest level."

He continues saying how they were "crunching your devs to the point I had to watch my wife crumble under the pressure of managing two teams DOING FULL TIME PRODUCER WORK as a PRODUCTION COORDINATOR with you all refusing to give her the promotion she deserved. Hope final shape was fucking worth."

Among the teams impacted by the layoffs, the player support team seems to have been hit the worst, with some members sharing their own stories of being with Bungie for the remaining few months working on The Final Shape and how distrust was beginning to grow in the studio's leadership, Parsons included.

Many have chimed in with their opinion about the situation here, and many are now demanding Parsons step down as CEO, to which I agree. Whatever he is doing, it's not working, and now there is a rumor that after the Sony acquisition of Bungie, Parsons reportedly spent over 2.3 million on classic cars. I am sure we will find out more as the week progresses, but this is just sad for those who've lost their jobs working for a company they all loved working for. If you ever read this, Parsons, you need to step down; you claim to "be brave," but instead, you decide to do this, which is not a good look as a CEO.