(UPDATE) Bungie Lays off Roughly 100 employees; Cites Low Final Shape Preorders and Player Sentiment
Media Molecule, PlayStation Visual Arts Services Group and Naughty Dog have all experienced layoffs in October
UPDATE 11/1: Jason Schreier from Bloomberg, Paul Tassi from Forbes (1|2), and Rebekah Valentine from IGN have reported similar information, with their sources telling them that roughly 100 were let go from Bungie on Monday.
Schreier reports that sales were running 45% lower than expected for the year, and preorder numbers for The Final Shape were lower than expected, while Valentine also reported that in addition to Monday’s layoffs, a “noticeable number of employees had been dismissed from the QA team in the weeks and months leading up to yesterday’s [Monday] layoffs. While the exact number is unknown, the number of departures over time were notable enough that the company’s head of QA sent an email around to staff members addressing the situation.”
Original story follows:
In a story that’s all too familiar, posts began appearing on Twitter and other social media networks Monday morning from Bungie employees announcing they were looking for other opportunities in the games industry.
At the time of writing, no firm number has been announced yet, but the cuts look to be deep. Several members of the community and social media team look to have been let go, as well as those involved in writing and narrative, production, player support, art, HR and recruiting, QA, legal, visual design, engineering, sound, and music.
It hasn’t been confirmed, but it appears Destiny 2 composer Michael Salvatori was part of Monday’s layoffs as well. Others have reported that it may have been voluntary, but a look at Salvatori’s website now makes no mention of his work at Bungie on the front page.
Bungie is the fourth PlayStation-owned developer to make cuts this month; Naughty Dog laid off several contract workers, Media Molecule laid off around 20 employees, and another unknown number was laid off from PlayStation’s Visual Arts Services Group.
Bungie CEO Pete Parsons commented on the layoffs, making a statement on Twitter that “Today is a sad day at Bungie as we say goodbye to colleagues who have all made a significant impact on our studio. What these exceptional individuals have contributed to our games and Bungie culture has been enormous and will continue to be a part of Bungie long into the future.”
No reason for the layoffs has been given, or whether the downsizing was a directive from Sony or internal restructuring. It also looks like the upcoming Destiny 2 expansion The Final Shape and Marathon have both been delayed. It’s been less than two years since Sony purchased Bungie for $3.6 billion, with a third of that going toward employee incentives for retention.
Our hearts are with everyone affected by the layoffs at Bungie, as well as those still at the studio in the aftermath.