After continuing to announce its focus on a remote work model, Bungie layoffs have hit the developer hard to an “unspecified” amount despite Sony pledging $1.2 billion on employee retention in the acquisition.
While the scope of layoffs has still yet to be determined, it appears to be company-wide, as now former employees have taken to social media platforms to announce their impending unemployment. Bungie is just the latest company in a growing list in 2023 that has deployed mass layoffs, but unlike Bioware and Epic Games, the Bungie layoffs have not determined whether they will be offering the shocked employees on the receiving end of layoffs a severance. According to LinkedIn, Bungie employs more than 1,600 people and it is currently unknown how many have actually been affected.
In Sony’s Q3 2021 earnings report, they stated $1.2 billion of their $3.6 billion total acquisition of Bungie, they pledged it would be used to retain the developer’s employees, but it seems since that report Sony has backtracked with these Bungie layoffs. the report states “Approximately one-third of the US$3.6 billion acquisition consideration consists primarily of deferred payments to employee shareholders, conditional upon their continued employment, and other retention incentives” with two-thirds to be expensed in the first two years after the acquisition completes.
It’s worth mentioning that although there are an unspecified amount of Bungie layoffs company-wide, Bungie is still hiring according to their website, and they are looking for a “Destiny AI Designer” for employment.
The Bungie layoffs have also stifled the release dates of two upcoming projects, Destiny 2: The Final Shape into June 2024 from its initial February launch, and the multiplayer-based Marathon pushing into 2025. CEO Pete Parsons has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to express his thoughts on the layoffs “Today is a sad day at Bungie as we say goodbye to colleagues who have all made a significant impact on our studio. What 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.” Fans have lambasted the response as “tone deaf,” as the now former employees have also expressed their shock at the Bungie layoffs.
Among the layoffs, renowned composer Michael Salvatori was also on the receiving end of a layoff, and his website has removed all mention of his working at Bungie and instead says “Gone Fishin’ :)” in its place. Other former employees such as Destiny 2 Community Manager & Co-Lead of Accessibility Liana Ruppert have taken to X to state exactly how shocking the Bungie layoffs are, and how financial instability can drastically affect their lives with “I am terrified we are going to lose our house.”
UPDATE [NOV 1]: Bungie Layoffs Affected 8% of Staff, Employees Were Blindsided
According to a Bloomberg report, Bungie layoffs have hit ~100 employees out of their ~1200 total. The inherent reasoning behind the layoffs was due to sales numbers running 45% lower than projected for the year, and player retention has seriously waned over that time period. It’s anyone’s guess as to why players have jumped ship from Destiny 2, but 2023 has been a huge year for quality games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Alan Wake 2, and Lies of P, so simply ‘playing other quality titles’ could have played a big part in the player base drop off.
Aside from the overall figure announcement, former Bungie employees have taken to X (formerly Twitter) to detail the nature of their layoff. While some former employees found out about their firing by just all-of-a-suddenly losing access to their email and logins, surprising 15-minute meetings were allegedly inserted into other former employee schedules. Those meetings were alleged ‘layoff meetings’. After this, Bungie advised employees to not tell other team members about it.
Bungie will also pay affected employees “at least three months of severance and three months of Bungie-paid COBRA health insurance.” It’s worth mentioning Bungie has yet to release an official statement regarding these layoffs, but as of today, fans now know the nature and scope of the Bungie layoffs. We here at CGMagazine will keep readers updated on this developing story as it happens.
