Bungie is the latest PlayStation studio to face layoffs. While the scale of the cuts wasnât immediately apparent, multiple, now-former staff members began posting on social media on October 30 that theyâd been let go by the beloved Destiny 2 maker.
âMy heart is breaking for all affectedâŠI am now looking for opportunities,â tweeted Destiny 2 community manager Liana Ruppert. âItâs a strange feeling to wake up in the morning excited for the week ahead, only for your day to begin learning that youâve been hit with a Reduction in Force and are now on the job hunt,â wrote recruiting lead Amanda R. on LinkedIn.
NEW: It appears that Bungie is undergoing a series of layoffs this week, in addition to those that occurred in the last few weeks. pic.twitter.com/SceoVF2ebe
â Destiny Bulletin (@DestinyBulletn) October 30, 2023
The scale of the cuts and which teams or departments are most impacted isnât yet clear. They come the same month that fellow PlayStation studio, Naughty Dog, cut dozens of contractors across art, production, quality assurance, and other disciplines. The downsizing comes in a year thatâs seen publishers like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two, and Embracer all lay off hundreds, consolidated teams, or closed entire studios. PlayStation rival Microsoft has imposed severe cuts at current first-party Halo studio 343 Industries near the beginning of 2023.
Getting texts from friends impacted by layoffs this morning.
It is frustrating â infuriating even â to continue seeing people who strap in to do good work losing their financial security due to poor management.
The continued echoes of poor decisions made that >feel< avoidable.
â dmg04 (@A_dmg04) October 30, 2023
Sony acquired Bungie for $3.6 billion just last year amid an acquisition frenzy across the video game industry. In addition to the popular sci-fi MMO shooter Destiny 2, Bungie is also working on the extraction shooter Marathon as well as another original IP. Bloomberg also previously reported that the studio was involved in an internal evaluation of Naughty Dogâs The Last of Us 2 multiplayer spin-off that stopped the project in its tracks. Kotaku reported earlier this month that the game, while not fully cancelled, had effectively been put on ice.
Sony and Bungie did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Update 10/30/2023: Bungie CEO Pete Parsons called today a âsad dayâ on Twitter. âWhat 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,â he wrote.
These are truly talented people. If you have openings, I would highly recommend each and every one of them.
â pete parsons (@pparsons) October 30, 2023
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