Update – 9:00am, 26th July – New details have emerged on the Bungie layoffs.
Bungie’s studio head Justin Truman has stepped down from his position with these layoffs, according to Bloomberg.
Having been in the role for under a year, he’s leaving alongside at least 292 other staff. That figure is know for certain thanks to a WARN notice in Washington state, which details the number of impacted employees from that state as well as their job role.
The total figure is likely larger than that, however. Forbe’s Paul Tassi claims that over 400 Bungie staff were present during the developer’s layoff call. He also notes that this would be “around half the studio”.
Original article – 4:36pm, 25th July – Bungie and Sony have announced they are laying off yet another wave of employees following the release of Destiny 2‘s final update.
In a public statement released on social media, Bungie called these cuts “a reduction in force as we reorganise”. The number of employees affected by these cuts, as well as the company’s future, remains unclear as of writing.
“As the leaders of Bungie, past and present, we recognise Destiny 2 fell short of expectations these past several years. Following our final content update to Destiny 2, and with our future projects still in early incubation, we unfortunately could not continue operating at our previous size.
“We know this decision has a profound impact on the people affected, their families, friends, and teammates. While these changes are necessary to best position the studio now and for the future, that does not lessen the difficulty of this moment or the impact it had on those affected.
“Later, we will share more about that future with you but today is not that day.”
Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Herman Hurst also released a statement that revealed these layoffs include “most” of the Destiny 2 team, as well as some Marathon developers and Sony Interactive Entertainment support staff that worked with Bungie.
Hurst also wrote that this decision came after “extensive discussion and careful consideration”. He also emphasised that – despite cuts being made to its development team – Marathon remains “an important part of our portfolio”.
The past few years of Destiny 2’s life has been marked by a string of previous layoffs to the Destiny 2 team, as well as wider controversy. In mid-2024, the company laid off 220 employees – roughly 17 percent of its workforce. A year prior, Bungie laid off around 100 employees, in what CEO Pete Parsons called “a sad day”. In the nine-month span between these cuts, the company cut around a quarter of its total workforce.
This news comes after Destiny 2 had its final update – a juggernaut that had gradually lost its playerbase after those aforementioned cuts to staff. This final update acted as a farewell to the game, showing players where many of the key characters ended up while also teasing future plot points. This led to a huge surge in returning players, who came back to send the game off.
What the future has in store for Bungie remains unclear, especially as Marathon continues its march through its second season. Eurogamer wishes those employees impacted by these layoffs well.
