Bungie is firing hundreds of employees and sending others to PlayStation Studios

Bungie is undergoing another major round of lay-offs, just months on from the launch of its latest big release, Destiny 2: The Final Shape. This time around, over 200 employees are being let go, and others within Bungie will be shifted to other PlayStation Studios. 

Bungie CEO, Pete Parsons, made the announcement public this afternoon, stating that development costs and economic conditions were key reasons for the company's restructuring. 220 employees are set to be let go, cutting down on Bungie's total workforce by a further 17%. This follows on from lay-offs in late 2023, at which time 100 employees were let go.

Unfortunately, while 220 employees will be let go, that doesn't mean everyone still at Bungie will continue to work there. Another 155 employees at Bungie are now set to be transferred to other teams within Sony Interactive Entertainment. That is a significant drop in employees considering that Bungie employed around 1200 people ahead of the Lightfall expansion.

After the previous round of lay-offs at Bungie, rumours persisted that a clause in the acquisition agreement between Bungie and Sony meant that Sony could obtain full control of the company's operations if it missed key performance targets. Anonymous developer sources claimed that this was a key reason behind the job cuts in 2023.

While Bungie is downsizing again, the company is still working very closely with Sony in many areas. According to Parsons, Bungie is setting up another studio under Sony as it aims to spin up more projects, including an unannounced action game.

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KitGuru Says: Bungie is still working on Marathon and Destiny 2, but the studio does not have the same level of consumer trust as it once did, which could lead to further complications with growing IP like Marathon and Destiny. 

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