In an inside city corridor assembly addressing a Monday spherical of layoffs that impacted a number of departments, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons allegedly instructed remaining workers that the corporate had saved “the best folks” to proceed work on Future 2.
Talking to a number of present and lately laid off workers, IGN has confirmed experiences that Bungie took duty for the layoffs, slightly than laying them on the toes of father or mother firm Sony. Parsons instructed workers that the layoffs have been largely as a consequence of underperformance of Future 2 during the last 12 months, in addition to lower-than-expected preorders for upcoming enlargement The Last Form.
IGN can now independently affirm experiences that The Last Form has been delayed to June 2024, and Marathon has been internally delayed to 2025 after having been in growth since 2019.
Staff have been additionally instructed that Future 2 participant sentiment was at an all-time low. Sources inform IGN that this concern had been flagged to management repeatedly for months previous to the layoffs, with workers begging for mandatory modifications to win gamers again.
One former Bungie worker recalled that they have been repeatedly assured following the 2022 Sony acquisition of Bungie that there can be no layoffs, and cited an merchandise from a Sony quarterly report that claimed $1.2 billion of the $4 billion acquisition was going explicitly towards workers retention. A number of workers confirmed that cash was distributed to workers who have been totally vested, with cash break up into a number of funds over time and ranging primarily based on self-discipline and seniority.
Different workers additionally instructed IGN they felt particularly pissed off with the layoffs on condition that the corporate had accomplished work on a model new headquarters, greater than double the dimensions of its earlier workplace and certain an expensive improve in Bellevue, Washington. [Note: The archived Bungie blog article was available this morning when we first drafted this piece, but as of 3:00pm PT today appeared to have been taken down. Update 3:43pm: It’s back online.]
Parsons was criticized in some quarters for calling the layoffs a “unhappy day at Bungie” in a tweet which equally angered a number of workers we spoke to.
As we speak is a tragic day at Bungie as we are saying goodbye to colleagues who’ve all made a big impression on our studio. What these distinctive people have contributed to our video games and Bungie tradition has been monumental and can proceed to be part of Bungie lengthy into the longer term.
— pete parsons (@pparsons) October 30, 2023
The precise variety of these impacted continues to be nebulous, although some sources we spoke to recommended roughly round 100 workers, a quantity additionally reported by Bloomberg earlier as we speak. A number of workers claimed that internally, Bungie management has tried to obfuscate the numbers and departments of these impacted whereas discouraging workers from asking questions on these matters in firm chats.
IGN has now heard of layoffs impacting the group crew, artwork, engineering, recruiting, authorized, audio, QA, artistic studios, and IT, with impacts throughout each the Future 2 and Marathon groups, and together with a number of members of the corporate’s variety committee and accessibility membership. These impacted are receiving a minimal of three months of severance and COBRA well being advantages, although different firm advantages terminated instantly.
Being deemed expendable hurts
A number of workers expressed frustration concerning the layoffs, saying they felt that the selections resulting in the corporate’s obvious cash struggles have been out of their fingers, and that those that have been laid off have been being punished for an issue they largely didn’t trigger.
“It’s positively bizarre, being the one who’s laid off primarily based off the selections and performances of individuals in departments you’re not concerned with,” one impacted worker instructed IGN. “Being deemed expendable hurts.”
Moreover, IGN has been instructed {that a} noticeable variety of workers had been dismissed from the QA crew within the weeks and months main as much as yesterday’s layoffs. Whereas the precise quantity is unknown, the variety of departures over time have been notable sufficient that the corporate’s head of QA despatched an electronic mail round to workers members addressing the state of affairs. IGN has reviewed the e-mail, which claimed the dismissals “weren’t layoffs and never a results of price slicing in any manner,” including that “if we ever did layoffs, we’d be very upfront about it.”
Staff accustomed to the state of affairs instructed IGN that the dismissals got here alongside what felt like a rising “crackdown” on QA, with elevated job tasks and a number of folks being positioned on efficiency enchancment plans (PIPs) for seemingly minor infractions.
In 2021, IGN spoke to 26 present and former workers at Bungie a couple of pervasive, poisonous work tradition on the Future 2 developer that on the time appeared to slowly be bettering due to the continued efforts of workers on the floor degree. Nevertheless, earlier this month we additionally reported on an ongoing lawsuit filed in opposition to Bungie by a former HR supervisor, who claims she was wrongfully terminated for reporting potential racial bias within the firm.
IGN has reached out to Bungie for remark.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Acquired a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.
