Right this moment, Bungie introduced that it was shedding 220 staff, or roughly 17 % of its workforce. The information, which comes on the heels of a profitable enlargement launch with Future 2: The Remaining Form in June and one other spherical of layoffs late final yr, has prompted former staff and gamers alike to criticize Bungie’s management. So as to add insult to harm, the corporate’s CEO locked his account simply because the information hit, shielding himself from flak and criticism on-line.
As information of Bungie’s newest spherical of layoffs started to get round this morning, followers of the corporate and video games business colleagues looked for the Twitter account of Pete Parsons, Bungie’s CEO since 2016. Solely, as soon as they discovered him, they realized that he had set his account to personal, which means that solely pre-existing followers of Parsons may see his posts and reply to him. Many took to mocking his bio, which includes a name to “be courageous,” and said that Parsons wasn’t residing as much as his personal values.
Since then, Parsons, doubtless reacting to criticisms he was already receiving, has unlocked his account. Regardless of the gesture, Parsons hasn’t mentioned something about this morning’s layoffs, and has solely shared the weblog submit by way of the official Bungie Twitter account.
Coming off the information, disgruntled former staff, followers of Bungie, and voices from across the video games business at the moment are calling for Parsons to take additional accountability and step down. Griffin Bennett, a developer who’d been with Bungie from 2018 till the 2023 layoffs, responded to the layoff announcement by calling out Parsons by title and demanding he give up, calling him a “joke.”
Ben Platnick, a former VFX artist at Bungie, went a step additional, saying, “Pete must fucking go. That is mismanagement on the highest stage.” He goes on to assert that Parsons’ “spending on R&D whereas Future was not doing the perfect would show to be a cash pit with no return. And my pals endure due to it.”
Among the many groups impacted by right this moment’s layoffs, the Participant Assist workforce appears to have been notably gutted. Some members have begun sharing their very own tales of the previous couple of months at Bungie engaged on The Remaining Form and their rising mistrust within the studio’s management, Parsons included.
Others within the video games business have begun chiming in and expressing their discontent with Parsons’ management and have joined in on requires him to resign. Among the many voices are Paul Tassi, who covers Future for Forbes, and the Future-centric content material creator MyNameIsByf.
