Bungie has released a statement regarding the recent layoffs and reports coming out of the studio. If you missed it, earlier this week Bungie laid off 8% of its workers and reported 100 staff layoffs within 24 hours. Former employees claim that Bungie handled the situation quite badly without notifying them about their jobs until the morning when they arrived at work – which would be their last day.
Bungie had made the decision to lay off the staff after the company foresaw a 47% drop in annual earnings. According to Bungie CEO Pete Parsons, the studio kept the “most important people to make Destiny 2 great”. Of course, the layoffs were also related to the drop in Destiny 2 players and the poor pre-orders for the upcoming Destiny 2: The Final Shape expansion.
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In a statement, Bungie says that over 650 people are working on The Final Shape expansion to deliver “epic moments and its subsequent Episodes”. Bungie admitted that the studio has lost the trust of its fanbase. Many players have reportedly cancelled their pre-orders for Destiny 2: The Final Shape amidst the layoffs.
In the statement, Bungie says Destiny 2 “needs to surprise and delight” and admits the game hasn’t done that in a while.
This has been one of the most difficult weeks in our studio’s history, as we’ve parted ways with people we respect and admire. We’ve spent this week supporting one another, including those who are at the studio, as well as friends and colleagues who no longer are. We want to acknowledge the feedback and concerns you have about Lightfall and recent Seasons, as well as your responses to the reveal of The Final Shape. We know we have lost a lot of your trust. Destiny needs to surprise and delight. We haven’t done this enough and that’s going to change.
The studio claims that the upcoming expansion will honour the ten-year journey players have been through up to this point.
To us the path forward is clear: We need to make The Final Shape an unforgettable Destiny experience. We want to build something that will be regarded alongside the best games we’ve ever made – a fitting culmination that honors the journey we’ve been on together for the past ten years. Forsaken, The Witch Queen, and The Taken King – these are the standard bearers we aim to live up to.
In closing, the studio says more details regarding the now-delayed expansion will be revealed in the months ahead.
In the weeks ahead, you’ll be hearing more from us about what’s next on the short-term horizon, beginning with our next Season in late November. Afterwards, we’ll begin to unpack our team’s bigger, bolder, and brighter vision for The Final Shape, as well as the bridge we plan to build to take us all out of this Darkness and into the Light.
Source: Bungie
