Bungie is reportedly planning a significant reduction in staff this summer, potentially impacting up to 50% of its workforce, both permanent and contract employees. This drastic move follows the studio’s announcement that Destiny 2’s development has officially concluded with its latest update, Monument’s Triumph. Sources close to the situation indicate these layoffs reflect broader challenges within the company, despite some positive commercial trends.
While Destiny 2 recently climbed back into Steam’s top revenue charts, this resurgence owes much to a substantial discount on the full game collection rather than sustained organic growth. Meanwhile, Bungie’s newest title, Marathon, although praised critically for its sci-fi extraction shooter mechanics, has failed to attract a large player base or significant sales, even after introducing an experimental PvE-only mode in the latest season update.
These difficulties come in the wake of a notable financial loss recorded by Bungie’s parent company, Sony, which recognized an $800 million impairment, signaling a lower valuation than expected compared to the $3.6 billion Sony invested during its acquisition. Industry insiders had flagged the risk of layoffs once Destiny 3 was confirmed not to be in active development, and Bloomberg had already predicted forthcoming workforce reductions prior to these latest reports.