At Bungie, over 200 employees have been fired. Many blame the studio’s CEO for this
Once again, a major development studio has fired hundreds of employees,this time it’s Bungie, best known forDestiny 2, the company announced in an official statement. Employees and fans alike are venting their frustration at this decision.
Dismissals due to financial difficulties
In the statement the terminations are justified with financial difficulties:
(…) Our rapid expansion ran head-on into a general economic downturn in 2023, a severe downturn in the games industry, our lack of quality on Destiny 2: Lightfall, and the need to give both The Final Shape and Marathon the time they needed to ensure both projects deliver the quality our players expect and deserve.
We were too ambitious, our financial safety margins were subsequently exceeded and we started to operate in the red.
After this new course became clear, we knew we had to change our course and our pace, and we did everything we could to avoid today’s result. Despite intensive efforts by our leadership and product teams to address our financial challenges, these steps were simply not enough.
This statement has not gone down well with many fans and dismissed employees.Their anger is primarily directed at Bungie CEO Pete Parsons. He is said to have bought luxury cars for 2.4 million US dollars last year.For many, this does not fit in with the financial difficulties of his studio.
Sam Bartley, himself affected by Bungie’s job cuts, writes on X (formerly Twitter):
Feigling You did this. You chose to do this.
I’m already on the list of who not to work with and I don’t care. You lied to my face. Right to my face. You also invited me to see your new cars TWO DAYS before you fired me. Two. Fucking. Days.
Go. now.
Coward.
You did this. You chose this.
I’m already listed as “do not work with” and I don’t care anymore. You lied to my face. Straight to it. You also invited me to come see your new cars TWO DAYS before you laid me off. Two. Fucking. Days.
Leave. Now. pic.twitter.com/nWVGgWXH8J
– Sam (@TheSamBartley) July 31, 2024
Bungie also shared the statement about the layoffs on itsown X-page,the reactions below are extremely critical Several comments call on the remaining employees to form a union, as was recently done at Blizzard.
Others complain that the layoffs are being made now, of all times, after the studio achieved great success with the last Destiny 2 expansion The Final Shape.Twitchy Animationwrites for example:
Finally making good content
Fire everyone involved
Well done guys, I’m sure this means the future of Destiny will be better than ever
Another ex-developer from Bungie,Griffin Bennet, also directly attacks the CEO:
Is the top management taking responsibility for this or is it still just “bonuses are being withheld” and “it’s being handled internally”?
Lousy leadership has destroyed one of the best developer studios of all time. Go into retirement, Pete
Outrage is also spreading on other platforms such as Reddit.Many are calling for CEOs to face consequences,if their company gets into financial difficulties,instead of firing masses of employees who have little influence on strategic decisions.
Reddit userSplashDmgEnthusiastgets a lot of encouragement for this comment:
If management spends too much and drives the company into the red, then management needs to get pay cuts or layoffs. Management needs to be held accountable for poor business decisions, not the workforce, who have no say in the matter.
220 terminated employees equate to about 17 percent of Bungie’s total studio size. In October 2023, around 100 employees had already lost their jobs at the studio, which now belongs to Sony. The statement also states that the company intends to press ahead with integration into the parent company in the future.
