The full extent has emerged of the “reduction in force” that is hitting Bungie after Destiny 2’s active support has come to an end. In short, the Destiny 2 team is almost completely gone with hundreds of employees being laid off, and some of the Marathon team has been affected alongside. Even studio co-founder Jason Jones has been affected by the layoffs, while the studio head Justin Truman is also stepping down.
The key information comes from the mandatory Worked Adjustment and Retraining Notificaition (WARN) which needs to be filed within the state of Washington. As spotted by Stephen Totilo, Sony notes 292 workers are affected by layoffs within the state, however with remote workers and external contractors, the actual workforce impact could be significantly higher.
The WARN filing also notes that Chief Vision Officer Jason Jones has been laid off, a role for the co-founder that he has held since 2021. Separately, studio head Justin Truman, who took over from Pete Parsons last year, is also stepping down per Bloomberg
Sony has shared an internal email sent by SIE Studio Business Group CEO Hermen Hulst, in which he confirmed that the layoffs affect “most of the Destiny team and some Marathon team members.”
He continued, “This is painful news, especially for talented colleagues whose roles have been eliminated. This decision was made only after extensive discussion and careful consideration, and I want to provide some context on how we arrived here. Over the past several months, together with Bungie leadership, we reviewed the studio’s long-term direction, development priorities, resource needs, and role within our broader portfolio strategy. We explored multiple alternatives before concluding that a reduction was necessary to align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals.”
And adds, “Our immediate priority is supporting affected employees through this transition. We are providing transition support and, where possible, working to identify opportunities across SIE and our global network of studios.”
Such support seems to be minimal, given just how many soon-to-be former Bungie employees are taking to social media to talk about it, from the Sandbox team that built Destiny 2’s gameplay, to Raid and Dungeons team, Cinematics, and on and on.
As part of WARN, employees should receive 60 days notice, but Sony will enact the layoffs from 9th July and simply pay in lieu. Details on any further compensation packages beyond this are not known.
It’s a sad day for such a storied developer, and we wish all those affected luck in finding new work and new opportunities.
via PCGamer
