Sony studio Bungie is losing about a third of its staff: 220 people will be laid off, Bungie boss Pete Parsons said in a post on the “Destiny 2” developer’s website. Another 155 employees will be moved to other studios in the Sony group.
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Stop destroying videogames: EU citizens’ initiative launched“Due to rising development costs and industry changes, as well as ongoing economic conditions, it has become clear that we must fundamentally change our cost structure and focus our development efforts entirely on ‘Destiny’ and ‘Marathon.'” Bungie boss Pete Parsons writes in the message. “This is a necessary decision to realign our studio with more realistic goals and a viable financial position.”
As part of the job cuts, Bungie is currently looking into opportunities for a sci-fi game developed by another Sony studio.
From Microsoft to Sony
Bungie has had a dramatic journey as a studio: The once independent studio joined Xbox developer Microsoft in the early 2000s, where it developed several “Halo” games. In 2007, Bungie became independent again — only to switch to PlayStation developer Sony in 2022 for $3.6 billion.
Since the Sony acquisition, Bungie has already faced job cuts once – namely at the end of 2023, when the studio laid off 100 employees due to missed financial targets. The studio is significantly smaller today than it was years ago.
In addition to the online shooter “Destiny 2”, which was recently expanded with the DLC “The Final Shape”, Bungie is working on a new version of the shooter “Marathon”. It remains to be seen if Bungie’s unannounced sci-fi game can actually be ported by another studio.
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