Bungie‘s current swathe of job cuts had been going to occur whatever the success of Future 2’s The Closing Form growth, it’s claimed.
On Wednesday, Bungie introduced that it would lay off 220 workers (roughly 17% of the studio), with an extra 155 workers being “built-in” into Sony Interactive Leisure.
Some gamers reacted with shock to the announcement, provided that Bungie’s newest launch, The Closing Form for Future 2, was thought of a much-needed return to kind for the sequence.
Nevertheless, Stephen Totilo’s Sport Fille e-newsletter cites three separate sources who every claimed that these cuts had been already deliberate by early 2024, lengthy earlier than The Closing Form was launched in June.
In accordance with Totilo’s sources, Bungie has been repeatedly lacking Sony’s monetary targets and has been shedding cash for the reason that launch of the Lightfall growth for Future 2 in early 2023.
Though it was acknowledged that Bungie would have full autonomy when it was acquired by Sony in 2022, sources instructed Totilo that Bungie administration agreed final 12 months that it must make deep cuts to show to Sony that it was severe about managing its funds.
This led to Bungie shedding round 100 workers again in October 2023, a transfer that it’s claimed wasn’t sufficient to treatment the scenario.
Totilo’s sources say that one other spherical of cuts – these made this week – was deliberate in early 2024, and couldn’t have been prevented even when The Closing Form had been an infinite hit.
“I believe Sony overpaid for Bungie,” one supply instructed Totilo. “I believe Bungie bought issues they had been simply not in a position to ship.”
Following the layoffs, now-former Bungie workers have been taking to social media to criticise the studio, with many directing the blame at Bungie boss Pete Parsons.
