Following the information that Bungie laid off 220 folks, particulars have reportedly been revealed concerning the firm’s future, together with that it is not at the moment engaged on Future 3, that it’s going to shift its focus from bigger expansions to smaller updates for Future 2 which may be free, and {that a} Future spin-off was canceled.
Bloomberg spoke to 10 present and former Bungie workers who requested to not be recognized, and so they “described an organization that grew too quick and tried to develop too many tasks without delay, spreading assets too skinny reasonably than prioritizing its chief moneymaker, Future 2.”
As a substitute of Future 3, Bungie Positioned a Huge Guess on Payback
Whereas there could also be many who believed Bungie was onerous at work on Future 3, particularly contemplating Future 2 was launched in 2017, the studio determined to shift its focus to one thing fully new referred to as Payback.
Payback, which was described as taking components from such video games as Warframe and Genshin Affect, was set within the Future universe however was meant to “shake up the components in main methods.” As a substitute of being a first-person shooter, Payback was being developed as a third-person title that might see gamers utilizing the franchise’s characters to discover a big world and work collectively to “battle monsters and remedy puzzles.”
This was not being billed as a sequel to Future 2, however extra of a spin-off. Sadly, Payback was canceled simply two months in the past so Bungie may prioritize its extra imminent video games. As a substitute, it moved a lot of the payback crew to work on Marathon, its PvP-focused extraction shooter live-service sport which is about to be launched in 2025.
With no Payback and no Future 3 within the close to future, Bungie is planning to proceed supporting Future 2, albeit another way. Regardless of Future 2’s The Remaining Form growth reviewing very properly – we gave it a 9/10 – the studio appears to be like to “now not pursue paid expansions because it did prior to now.” In response to one of many sources, gross sales for every growth have declined 12 months after 12 months.
As a substitute of this annual launch mannequin for giant expansions, Bungie appears to be like to “retain and entice gamers with smaller-scale drops modeled after Into the Gentle.” For these unfamiliar, Into the Gentle was launched forward of The Remaining Form and added the Onslaught exercise, the Corridor of Champions social house, Parade Armor 2.0, the return of 12 iconic weapons with the BRAVE Arsenal, and way more.
Moreover, Bungie is aiming to launch these updates totally free alongside overhauling actions it hopes will maintain its hardcord participant glad. There are additionally “different obscure plans” that embody a storyline that “will function characters and worlds that Future has not but explored.”
So, as an alternative of massive new Future 2 expansions, Bungie will put assets into these updates, a smoother onboarding course of, and extra. In a single shiny spot, among the sources mentioned they’re “optimistic concerning the imaginative and prescient for Future 2 beneath new director Tyson Inexperienced.”
Bother on the Prime
The layoffs have hit the crew onerous, and most people Bloomberg spoke to have been important of Bungie CEO Pete Parsons, saying he “didn’t take accountability for his personal dangerous bets” and that he was “overly optimistic in his communication with the employees.”
There’s additionally fear as a result of longtime veterans Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy left Bungie this week, and that has led to a whole lot of “lingering questions on the way forward for decision-making at Bungie.” Now, with out a few of its leaders, a giant hit to audio, narrative, and participant assist groups, and way more, Bungie employees at the moment are taking a look at creating world-class experiences with a “smaller employees, tighter schedules, and an organization that appears considerably completely different than it did three days in the past.”
Along with the layoffs, Bungie is hoping to maneuver 155 of its workers to Sony Interactive Leisure, and a seperate group can be a part of a crew engaged on an incubation mission code-named Gummybears.
Ever since Sony’s $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie, issues haven’t gotten higher. Bungie took that money and “employed lots of of latest employees members and pursued myriad incubation tasks, together with cell variations of Future, remakes of previous video games and new franchises.” Now, it is most necessary former and present workers are struggling after a few of these plans by no means noticed the sunshine of day or turned out as these in cost hoped. One of many sources even famous that Parsons informed employees in a gathering in later 2023 that Bungie had missed its income targets by 45% and was dropping cash.
For extra, try how one other former Bungie worker claimed the studio confronted insolvency with out Sony’s acquistion and the video games business’s criticism of Bungie mangagement and Parsons in wake of those layoffs.
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Adam Bankhurst is a author for IGN. You’ll be able to observe him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.
