Bungie has announced a "reduction in force" as it reorganizes following the end of development on Destiny 2, saying that with its premiere game now ended and new projects still in very early stages of development, "we unfortunately could not continue operating at our previous size."
"We know this decision has a profound impact on the people affected, their families, friends, and teammates," Bungie wrote in an unattributed message. "While these changes are necessary to best position the studio now and for the future, that does not lessen the difficulty of this moment or the impact it has on those affected."
Hermen Hulst, the CEO of Sony's Studio Business Group, released his own statement on the layoffs, indicating that the cuts run deep: Layoffs will impact "a significant number of employees, including most of the Destiny team and some Marathon team members."
"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," Hulst wrote. "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."
Hulst said "Marathon remains an important part of our portfolio," and said Sony will continue to support Bungie's "team as they build on the strong foundation established in Season 1 and 2, and as they work on incubation efforts for future projects."
Bungie's message actually begins by acknowledging that "Destiny 2 fell short of expectations these past several years," and that's undeniably true. The game has stumbled from one botch to another in recent years, angering and shedding fans, and leading our top Destiny men, Tim Clark and Phil Savage, to each express doubts about the game's future.
The irony is that, with Destiny 2 now concluded, it's putting up fantastic player numbers on Steam. Some of that is no doubt the result of people dropping in for a jolt of nostalgia or perhaps a final farewell, but it's also hard not to see it as evidence that there's a good game underneath all of Bungie's headless flailing, and that people want to play it.
Sony's decision to pull the plug on Destiny 2 instead of properly fixing it is baffling, particularly given its commitment—for now—to Marathon, which is currently pulling a small fraction of the Steam player counts that Destiny 2 is. Marathon is not free, which is no doubt a factor in that, but it's a live service game nonetheless. It's no doubt less expensive to operate than Destiny 2, with considerably less new content in each new season, but it still requires ongoing development resources that could have otherwise been directed elsewhere.
And while Hulst has committed to Bungie's future through Marathon and new projects, I can't help wondering if maybe this is the real beginning of the end. It's a situation that reminds me very much of BioWare, whose future feels very much in doubt even as it's ostensibly working on Mass Effect 4.
Bungie didn't say how many people were let go as a result of the layoffs, but said it will share more about its future plans later.
