Thursday, September 19, 2024

Bungie to lay off over 200 staff as it forms new studio within PlayStation | VGC

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Bungie has announced that it will lay off 220 staff, roughly 17% of the studio.

In a letter published on Wednesday, the Destiny creator cited “rising costs of development and industry shifts,” for what it called some of the most difficult changes the studio has had to make.

In the letter, the company announced two major changes to the structure of the developer going forward.

“First, we are deepening our integration with Sony Interactive Entertainment, working to integrate 155 of our roles, roughly 12%, into SIE over the next few quarters,” wrote Pete Parsons, CEO of Bungie.

“SIE has worked tirelessly with us to identify roles for as many of our people as possible, enabling us together to save a great deal of talent that would otherwise have been affected by the reduction in force.”

The letter also announced that the studio is working on new sci-fi action game within PlayStation Studios.

“Second, we are working with PlayStation Studios leadership to spin out one of our incubation projects – an action game set in a brand-new science-fantasy universe – to form a new studio within PlayStation Studios to continue its promising development. ”

The PlayStation maker purchased Bungie in 2022.

“For everyone affected by this job reduction, we will be offering a generous exit package, including severance, bonus and health coverage,” the letter reads.

The letter concluded by reassuring fans that its planned Marathon reboot is still in development and that over 800 developers are still working on it and the Destiny franchise.