Key Takeaways
- Bungie will lay off 220 employees to stabilize its finances and will provide severance and other benefits to affected employees.
- Some employees will move to Sony Interactive, while others will move to new brands under the PlayStation Studios umbrella.
- Bungie itself will be focusing on Destiny and Marathon.
Bungie, one of the games industry’s best-known studios and creator of Halo and Destiny, is laying off 220 employees in an effort to put the company on a stronger financial footing, CEO Pete Parsons announced on Tuesday. To soften the blow, affected employees will be offered severance pay, bonuses and health benefits. Some of the cuts were avoided by sending 155 people to Bungie’s parent company, Sony Interactive Entertainment.
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Bungie is also planning a spinoff “of an action game set in an all-new science-fantasy universe” under the new PlayStation Studios brand. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier reports that about 75 people are working on the new project. For now, Bungie plans to focus solely on Destiny and Marathon.
Parsons blames the situation on “overly ambitious” plans, including a goal to keep three franchises rolling. The company created multiple incubation units and caused internal upheaval, while also dealing with a range of issues, including a downturn in the games industry and the need to devote more time to Marathon and Destiny’s The Final Shape expansions. Financially, the company “started to lose money,” Parsons says.
The latest blow to the games industry’s workforce
Unfortunately, the gaming industry is facing multiple waves of layoffs starting in 2023. Over 10,000 jobs were lost in 2023 and will get even worse in 2024, with cuts now totaling over 11,000. Just recently, the entirety of Humble Games was laid off, although its operations are expected to continue in some form.
While certain factors are impacting companies like Bungie, the industry as a whole has been shaken by mergers and acquisitions, as well as the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic as people are able to return to activities outside the home. Development costs have skyrocketed as major game studios strive for cinematic production values.
