Bungie,
the
developers
of
Halo
and
Destiny,
has
announced
that
220
people,
roughly
17%
of
its
workforce,
is
being
laid
off.
In
an
open
letter,
Pete
Parsons
of
Bungie
made
the
announcement,
blaming
rising
costs
of
development
and
ongoing
economic
factors.
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“Due
to
rising
costs
of
development
and
industry
shifts
as
well
as
enduring
economic
conditions,”
said
Parsons.
“That
means
beginning
today,
220
of
our
roles
will
be
eliminated,
representing
roughly
17%
of
our
studio’s
workforce. ”
Parsons
goes
on
to
discuss
two
other
major
changes.
The
first
is
that
155
roles
at
Bungie
will
be
“integrated”
into
Sony.
Parsons
comments
that
these
people
would
” otherwise
have
been
affected
by
the
reduction
in
force.”
Bungie
is
also
working
with
Sony
to
set
up
a
new
studio
built
around
one
of
their
current
projects
in
the
incubation
stage.
This
new
game
is
apparently
set
within
a
“brand-new
science-fantasy
universe.”
Parsons
goes
on
by
attempting
to
justify
how
Bungie
wound
up
in
this
position.
“For
over
five
years,
it
has
been
our
goal
to
ship
games
in
three
enduring,
global
franchises,”
writes
Parsons.
“To
realize
that
ambition,
we
set
up
several
incubation
projects,
each
seeded
with
senior
development
leaders
from
our
existing
teams.
We
eventually
realized
that
this
model
stretched
our
talent
too
thin,
too
quickly.
It
also
forced
our
studio
support
structures
to
scale
to
a
larger
level
than
we
could
realistically
support,
given
our
two
primary
products
in
development
–
Destiny
and
Marathon. “
According
to
Parsons,
the
company’s
“rapid
expansion
ran
headlong
into
a
broad
economic
slowdown.”
He
mentions
the
“quality
miss”
of
Destiny
2’s
Lightfall
expansions
along
with
the
need
to
give
both
The
Final
Shape
and
Marathon
more
time
to
cook.
“We
were
overly
ambitious,
our
financial
safety
margins
were
subsequently
exceeded,
and
we
began
running
in
the
red,”
Parson’s
said.
Parsons
claim
Bungie
and
Sony
did
everything
possible
to
avoid
this
outcome.
Back
in
October
of
2023
Bungie
laid
of
100
of
its
staff.
“Bungie
will
continue
to
make
great
games.
We
still
have
over
850
team
members
building
Destiny
and
Marathon,
and
we
will
continue
to
build
amazing
experiences
that
exceed
our
players’
expectations,”
Parsons
stated.
Bungie
has
seemingly
been
in
trouble
for
quite
some
time
now,
but
the
issues
plaguing
the
company
appear
to
have
worsened
since
Sony
acquired
it.
In
December
of
2023,
IGN
published
an
article
describing
a
Bungie
suffering
from
a
“soul-crushing”
atmosphere
and
there
were
concerns
that
Sony
would
completely
take
over
the
company.
