Bungie cuts 220 employees and moves hundreds more to Sony
Massive Bungie layoffs. Again.
Destiny 2 developer Bungie is laying off 220 people, CEO Pete Parsons announced Wednesday in a post on Bungie's website. Bungie previously hired more than 1,000 people to support the ongoing Destiny 2, its next game Marathon and "multiple incubation projects." The company is reducing that number to 850: 220 people have been laid off, 155 people will be moved to Sony Interactive Entertainment and about 75 to a new studio, according to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier.
"These actions will affect all levels of the company, including most of our executive and senior leaders," Parsons wrote. “Today is a difficult and painful day, especially for our departing colleagues, all of whom have made important and valuable contributions to Bungie. Our goal is to support them with the utmost care and respect. For everyone affected by these job cuts, we will offer a generous severance package, including severance pay, bonuses and health coverage.”
Parsons cited several reasons for the layoffs – "increasing development costs and industry changes, as well as persistent financial conditions", concluding with what Parsons described as a "quality lapse" with the Destiny 2 expansion Lightfall. He added that Bungie was making "exhaustive efforts" to mitigate layoffs.
