Destiny creators Bungie lay off 220 people and form new studio within Sony to stave off financial ruin

Destiny and Marathon developers Bungie are laying off 220 people - around 17% of their total workforce - as studio heads try to offset a financial crisis brought on by "overly ambitious" expansion, individual project "misfires", and a wider economic downturn in 2023. Bungie are also transferring a further 155 roles to parent company Sony Interactive Entertainment, and are spinning out an untitled incubation project - an "action game set in a brand-new science-fantasy universe" - to form a new PlayStation studio.

The news follows months of reporting that all is not well at Bungie - the company made an undisclosed number of reductions last year, and were rumoured to be facing a full Sony takeover, with much riding on the fortunes of Destiny 2's Final Shape DLC.

Writing on the developer's site today, CEO Pete Parsons gave a compressed account of how Bungie have ended up in such dire straits. "For over five years, it has been our goal to ship games in three enduring, global franchises," he wrote. "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," Parsons continued. "We were overly ambitious, our financial safety margins were subsequently exceeded, and we began running in the red."

Parsons's comments about "overly ambitious" expansion during the Covid lockdown years continue a depressing theme. Back at GDC, Larian CEO Swen Vincke told me that many CEOs are guilty of short-term thinking and fixating on their own bonuses, with staff further down the ladder regarded as disposable.

Perhaps anticipating such comments, Parsons notes that the layoffs "affect every level of the company, including most of our executive and senior leader roles", though he appears to have kept his job. The integration of other roles into Sony Interactive Entertainment, meanwhile, has helped "save a great deal of talent that would otherwise have been affected by the reduction in force."

Bungie's remaining 850 or so staff will now "focus development efforts entirely on Destiny and Marathon". The latter is a PvP and loot-focussed reboot of the shooter that established Bungie as an FPS developer to watch, prior to Halo: Combat Evolved. It was reportedly subject to a creative leadership shake-up in March. As for Destiny, The Final Shape was well-received and is a "success" in Parson's view, but evidently hasn't done well enough for the paymasters.

Several now-former Bungie developers have shared the news on social media. Among those hit are sound designer Tzvi Sherman, whose credits include Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, artist Weston T. Jones, formerly of Rooster Teeth, and Marathon engine/SDET producer Daryl Nelson, formerly of Blizzard and The Pokemon Company.

Other developers have warm words for Bungie's leadership. "Inexcusable," wrote global community lead Dylan Gafner, who still has his job. "Industry leading talent being lost, yet again. Accountability falling upon the workers who have pushed the needle to deliver for our community time and time again." Former Destiny 2 community manager Liana Ruppert, who was laid off last year, has branded Parsons a "liar" and a "thief" and called on him to step down.

Best of luck to everybody affected.