The video game industry continues to feel the pinch of layoffs.
On Wednesday, the Sony-owned studio Bungie told employees that it will be cutting about 17 percent of its workforce, or about 220 people.
“These actions will affect every level of the company, including most of our executive and senior leader roles,” Bungie CEO Pete Parsons wrote to staff.
In a move reminiscent of layoffs that have recently impacted other studios, Parsons said that Bungie will focus its efforts on fewer, more impactful projects moving forward.
“Due to rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions, it has become clear that we need to make substantial changes to our cost structure and focus development efforts entirely on Destiny and Marathon,” he wrote.
Bungie was founded in the early 1990s, developing games like Marathon and Myth, but it broke out in 1999 with the creation of the franchise Halo (which is now also a series on Paramount+). The company would go on to be acquired by Microsoft, where it would develop multiple sequels in the combat franchise. Bungie would split from Microsoft in 2007, and would go on to develop the Destiny franchise. Sony acquired Bungie in 2022.
The video game industry writ large has undergone substantial layoffs this year.
In January, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees, with its Activision Blizzard division hit particularly hard, while League of Legends studio Riot Games slashed more than 500 jobs; in February Sony cut 900 jobs in its gaming division, and Electronic Arts cut 650 jobs and cut upcoming games, including a Star Wars game; Take-Two Interactive cut 5 percent of its workforce in April, and announced plans to cut multiple projects.
In his memo, Parsons added that the company will also integrate about 12% of its workforce into Sony Interactive, “enabling us together to save a great deal of talent that would otherwise have been affected by the reduction in force.”
“This will be a challenging time at Bungie, and we’ll need to help our team navigate these changes in the weeks and months ahead,” he added. “This will be a hard week, and we know that our team will need time to process, to ask questions, and to absorb this news.”