Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
Another week brings yet another round of layoffs in the video game industry. Bungie, the studio behind Destiny 2 and an upcoming revival of Marathon, has laid off an uncertain number of employees. There has been no official statement from Bungie or parent company Sony, but it appears that the layoffs are targeting the studio’s community and social teams.
The news of layoffs at Bungie came from ex-employees themselves, as they began to announce them on social media. “A surreal thing to write as I sit here pondering what went wrong,” wrote former Social Media Lead Griffin Bennett. “I'm still processing it all and while my first instinct is anger I know I'd regret what I'd say.” His frustration and confusion echoes a sentiment shared by other ex-employees at the studio.
Industry insider Jason Schreier shared some additional insight in a report for Bloomberg. He states that in addition to the layoffs, Destiny has informed employees that both The Final Shape (Destiny 2’s next major expansion) and the Marathon revival have been delayed. The Final Shape was originally slated for a February 2024 release, while Marathon had not yet been given a date.
This continues the brutal streak of video game and tech layoffs in 2023, including at companies like Epic Games and Sega. It’s also just the latest layoffs at PlayStation Studios this year. Earlier this month, it was announced that the Visual Arts department had suffered layoffs. Shacknews sends its best wishes to those impacted by the layoffs at Bungie.