Reports are coming out of mass layoffs atBungietoday, as developers reveal that they’ve just had their jobs axed. This makes theDestinydeveloper the latestPlayStation-owned studio to face job cuts, following on fromLittleBigPlanetdeveloper, Media Molecule.
The full scope of the layoffs is unclear at this point, but so far, we’re mostly seeing community managers come forward with the news that they’ve lost their positions at Bungie. Staff are seemingly still being informed of the cuts, with Bungie reportedly holding a staff meeting later today to discuss the move.
Bungie hasn’t commented on the news publicly yet, but workers affected by the layoffs have started to come forward. Many of them are now publicly looking for work, so the news of job cuts seems to have come as a surprise.
The reason behind such a drastic move isn’t apparent, but it is almost definitely tied to the job losses felt throughout other PlayStation-owned studios this year. Naughty Dog wasn’t immune to this,getting rid of workers contracted to work on The Last Of Us Factions. Support studio Visual Arts was another to face job losses, and it’s not clear if PlayStation is done hitting its companies with cuts as we approach the end of the year.
Of course, PlayStation is far from the only media giant laying off staff this year.Microsoft had its own round of cutstowards the beginning of the year,particularly felt throughout Bethesda and 343 Industries. Then, there’s Embracer Group, which appears to bedropping studiosas dramatically as it was acquiring them not long ago.
While 2023 has been a fantastic year for video game releases - rivalling other greats like 2017 - it’s largely seen as aterrible year for the industry. This is due to the widespread layoffs, felt throughout all corners of the gaming industry,
It isn’t clear how this move will affect Destiny 2’s ongoing development or the production ofthe new game that Bungie has in the works. But of course, the priority right now is the wellbeing of those affected by today’s news. Hopefully, they can find stable work, especially since they didn’t appear to have any forewarning about the job cuts and are learning about them not long before we are.
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