Bungie CEO Pete Parsons announced today that "due to the rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions," the decision was made to layoff 220 employees. This is a reduction of 17% of Bungie's entire workforce.
Parsons say that the layoffs have impacted "every level of the company." This includes "most of our executive and senior leader roles." Parsons notes that today "is a difficult and painful day."
Today is a difficult and painful day, especially for our departing colleagues, all of which have made important and valuable contributions to Bungie. Our goal is to support them with the utmost care and respect. For everyone affected by this job reduction, we will be offering a generous exit package, including severance, bonus and health coverage.
I realize all of this is hard news, especially following the success we have seen with The Final Shape. But as we’ve navigated the broader economic realities over the last year, and after exhausting all other mitigation options, this has become a necessary decision to refocus our studio and our business with more realistic goals and viable financials.
I realize all of this is hard news, especially following the success we have seen with The Final Shape. But as we’ve navigated the broader economic realities over the last year, and after exhausting all other mitigation options, this has become a necessary decision to refocus our studio and our business with more realistic goals and viable financials.
In addition to this, Parsons says that there will be a new studio under PlayStation Studios that will be working on "an action game set in a brand-new science-fantasy universe." Bungie will be working with the leadership at PlayStation Studios on this new studio and new game. The number of people shifting to this new studio were not disclosed, but Parsons said that "this will be a time of tremendous change for our studio."
Prior to these layoffs, integrations, and shifting of employees to a new studio, Bungie employed about 1,300 people. Parson states that there are just over 850 employees remaining at Bungie to work on Destiny and Marathon. This seems to suggest that Bungie lost about 35% of its entire workforce after the layoffs (220 people), the employees that were integrated into other SIE studios (155 people), and those moving to the new PlayStation studio (estimated at 75 people).
Parsons spends a little portion of today's news by breaking down what led to Bungie having to make such a drastic reduction in workforce.
Let’s unpack how we ended up in this position; it’s important to understand how we got here.
For over five years, it has been our goal to ship games in three enduring, global franchises. To realize that ambition, we set up several incubation projects, each seeded with senior development leaders from our existing teams. We eventually realized that this model stretched our talent too thin, too quickly. It also forced our studio support structures to scale to a larger level than we could realistically support, given our two primary products in development – Destiny and Marathon.
Additionally, in 2023, our rapid expansion ran headlong into a broad economic slowdown, a sharp downturn in the games industry, our quality miss with Destiny 2: Lightfall, and the need to give both The Final Shape and Marathon the time needed to ensure both projects deliver at the quality our players expect and deserve. We were overly ambitious, our financial safety margins were subsequently exceeded, and we began running in the red.
After this new trajectory became clear, we knew we had to change our course and speed, and we did everything we could to avoid today’s outcome. Even with exhaustive efforts undertaken across our leadership and product teams to resolve our financial challenges, these steps were simply not enough.
As a result, today we must say goodbye to incredible talent, colleagues, and friends.
For over five years, it has been our goal to ship games in three enduring, global franchises. To realize that ambition, we set up several incubation projects, each seeded with senior development leaders from our existing teams. We eventually realized that this model stretched our talent too thin, too quickly. It also forced our studio support structures to scale to a larger level than we could realistically support, given our two primary products in development – Destiny and Marathon.
Additionally, in 2023, our rapid expansion ran headlong into a broad economic slowdown, a sharp downturn in the games industry, our quality miss with Destiny 2: Lightfall, and the need to give both The Final Shape and Marathon the time needed to ensure both projects deliver at the quality our players expect and deserve. We were overly ambitious, our financial safety margins were subsequently exceeded, and we began running in the red.
After this new trajectory became clear, we knew we had to change our course and speed, and we did everything we could to avoid today’s outcome. Even with exhaustive efforts undertaken across our leadership and product teams to resolve our financial challenges, these steps were simply not enough.
As a result, today we must say goodbye to incredible talent, colleagues, and friends.
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