The dust from yesterday's layoffs at Bungie has yet to settle as word continues to trickle out on just who all was let go. Following a meeting with CEO Pete Parsons yesterday, employees from several different departments found out that they were no longer employed at the Destiny 2 development studio. Job cuts hit departments like social media / public relations, community management, art, engineering, player support, quality assurance, recruitment, and even the legal teams.
As the day progressed, those that were let go sometimes shared the news through social media. Other layoff announcements came from insiders or those with knowledge of Bungie's inner workings. Then it was shared on Twitter that Michael Salvatori was one of the ones laid off from the company.
Salvatori is a composer that has worked almost exclusively with Bungie since Myth: The Fallen Lords back in 1997. Salvatori often worked alongside co-composer Martin O'Donnell on the soundtracks for the Halo franchise up through Halo: Reach in 2010. Salvatori also co-composed the entirety of the Destiny franchise soundtrack with people like C. Paul Johnson, Skye Lewin, and others.
Word that Salvatori may have been one of the employees laid off from Bungie came first from Carson Reed. Today, Salvatori changed his website biography to remove all mention of his work at Bungie. In the place of the old bio is a line that simply says "Gone Fishin' :)".
It is entirely possible that Salvatori was not included in the layoffs and was instead pushed into an "early retirement" deal. However, with this information coming right alongside the news of the layoffs, it's seems a little bit more than coincidental. Another on Bungie's music team, Michael Sechrist, also seems to no longer be employed at Bungie. Sechrist also changed his bio similar to Salvatori, saying "gone fishin' with Salvatori..." Sechrist is best known by Destiny 2 fans for composing the Deep Stone Lullaby.
Losing Salvatori, be it from layoffs or otherwise, is a massive blow to Bungie and the community.
Many fans have tried to place the blame of these layoffs on Sony. However, according to Forbes writer Paul Tassi, the finger should be pointed at Bungie.
According to Tassi's anonymous sources, the layoff decisions came directly from Bungie management, not Sony. Tassi also notes that many employee benefits (except health insurance) only last until the end of the month. This means that as the layoffs happened on October 30th, those that were laid off only have one day of additional coverage. Health insurance for those laid off will end at the same time that severance ends.
Furthermore, many employees had unvested shares from Sony's recent purchase of Bungie. The shares for these employees would only be received once the employee stayed with the company for a certain number of years following the sale. If you leave Bungie, including being fired or laid off, those shares go back to Bungie. As a result, many of the employees that were let go this week will never receive those shares.
Tassi provided additional details from other sources close to the situation. He says that many of the Bungie employees that were laid off found out only when they were locked out of services, logins, and also had their email access revoked.
He says that the employees that found out about the layoffs from meetings were told not to tell other team members about the layoffs. They were told that teams would be told "by other means." This led to countless situations where employees were unable to say goodbye or even exchange contact information.
Reportedly, many team managers were not told who all on their teams were being laid off. These managers only found out as it happened.
