Bungie, the renowned game studio responsible for Destiny 2 and recently acquired by Sony, has made the difficult decision to lay off approximately 100 of its employees. This move comes as part of a broader restructuring within Sony‘s video game division.
Bungie’s CEO, Pete Parsons, expressed his sadness regarding the staff reductions, acknowledging the significant contributions of the departing colleagues. He made this announcement on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
In addition to the layoffs, Bungie has also faced delays in its upcoming game releases. The highly anticipated Destiny 2 expansion, “The Final Shape,” originally scheduled for a February release, has been postponed until June. This change in the release date means it will fall outside of Sony Group’s current fiscal year. Furthermore, Bungie’s next project, “Marathon,” is now slated for a 2025 release.
This series of developments is not isolated, as Sony, the new parent company of Bungie since its acquisition for $3.6 billion in early 2022, has been reorganizing its PlayStation division. This restructuring has resulted in staff reductions and departures of key producers. Notably, Jim Ryan, the head of PlayStation, is set to retire in March, further underscoring the shifts within the company.
According to TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz, these recent events signal that PlayStation is undergoing a significant restructuring process, affecting various aspects of the organization.
The video game industry as a whole has experienced a wave of layoffs in 2023, as many companies seek to reduce costs despite a year filled with successful releases. Just last month, Epic Games cut approximately 900 staff members.
In a prior internal email, CEO Pete Parsons had hinted at impending news for the company’s employees and assured them that a team meeting would be held to discuss the events of the day.
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