After Bungie ended active live-service development for Destiny 2 last month, rumors quickly spread that major layoffs were coming. Those reports have now been confirmed, with Bungie announcing a large workforce reduction that has resulted in most of the Destiny development team being laid off.
Bungie confirmed the layoffs in a post on X (formerly Twitter), while PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst also spoke about them in an internal email. The two statements confirmed that most of the Destiny team has been laid off. Some developers working on Marathon also lost their jobs, and the cuts included Sony Interactive Entertainment employees who worked with Bungie.
In its statement, Bungie said, “With great sadness, we are announcing a reduction in force as we reorganize Bungie.” They also admitted that Destiny 2 has not met the company’s expectations over the past few years. With the final content update now released and future projects still in the early stages, the studio said it could no longer keep its workforce at the same size.
In addition, Bungie explained it is still working on several new projects that are in the early stages of development. However, the studio explained that it could no longer keep the same number of employees while those projects are still being developed. The company said it will share more about its future plans at a later date.
As mentioned earlier, PlayStation Studios CEO Hermen Hulst also confirmed the layoffs, saying the reduction will affect most of the Destiny team, some members of the Marathon team, and the SIE teams that support Bungie’s operations. He said Sony had “reviewed the studio’s long-term direction, development priorities, resource needs, and role within our broader portfolio strategy” before deciding that the cuts were necessary to “align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals.” Despite the layoffs, Hulst confirmed that Sony still plans to support Marathon going forward.
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