Amidst many news of successful titles and releases throughout the year in the gaming industry, some unfortunate news also is to be seen online as it is reported that an undisclosed number of employees of Destiny 2’s developer, Bungie, are being let go from the company after their acquisition by Sony last year.
The news comes from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier who reports that now ex-employees of Bungie are coming online to share that they were suddenly laid off from the company. He’s tweeted out the news on Twitter/X:
“Today is a sad day at Bungie as we say goodbye to colleagues who have all made a significant impact on our studio,”
– Bungie Chief Executive Officer Pete Parsons
The news hints at a possible restructuring work currently ongoing at Sony which could be seen as the primary reason Bungie is taking this route. This is against the former notion of holding ‘key talent’ at the developer studio which was raised when Sony moved to acquire the Destiny 2 developer a few months ago, where Sony stated that the reason for their massive money deal, around 3.6 Billion USD, was essentially for the acquisition of the ‘key talent’ alongside the whole developer.
Moreover, it is also reported that the current game of the company is seeing major delays in upcoming content, with the expansion “The Final Shape” pushed back to June 2024 for now. Their new game titled “Marathon is also reportedly now looking to release in 2025 at the earliest.
It is always an unfortunate thing to see that many developers still face the uncertainty of making a livelihood from working within the gaming industry which has always had a notoriety for this aspect. Many big company names are not immune to being covered in unpleasant news of letting go of their developers and more such as having harsh working hours and workspaces. The PlayStation division of Sony is also cutting off staff, and producers also opting to leave the company.
It is to be seen what will happen ahead for the developer and their games. It could be possible that some official news is shared, but the chance is also that a bigger delay might hit Destiny 2 players and fans.
