Jason Schreier: Bungie had to lay off 100 employees - that's 8% of the studio

On 30 October, it became known that Bungie, which is known for the Destiny series, had a wave of layoffs. However, it was not known how many people were fired, but Jason Schreier shared the information.

Here's What We Know

In total, Bungie employed about 1200 workers, but now 100 people have been laid off, which is 8% of the studio. The decision was made due to the sharp decline in the popularity of Destiny 2 in autumn. It also became known that Bungie's revenues in 2023 are 45% lower than forecast. CEO Pete Parsons explains this by the outrage of players after the release of the Lightfall expansion pack to Destiny 2. The release of The Final Shape DLC has now been postponed to June 2024, although it was planned to be released in February.

Many of the layoffs at Bungie were in support departments such as community management and publishing. It is likely that some of these departments will be closed and outsourced.

The laid-off employees will receive at least three months of severance pay and three months of Bungie-paid COBRA health insurance, although other benefits have already expired.

The layoffs are also part of a larger cost-saving initiative at Sony's gaming division, although the laid-off Bungie developers told IGN that they were promised no layoffs when the studio was acquired by Sony in 2022.

Source: bloomberg