This morning, I need to Bungie share some of the most challenging changes we’ve ever faced as a studio. Due to rising development costs, industry shifts, and persistent economic conditions, we have determined that substantial changes to our cost structure are necessary. As a result, we will be focusing our development efforts exclusively on Destiny and Marathon.
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Effective immediately, we will be eliminating 220 positions, which represents approximately 17% of our workforce. This reduction will impact all levels of the company, including many executive and senior leadership roles.
Today is especially difficult and painful, particularly for our departing colleagues who have made significant contributions to Bungie. Our goal is to support them with the utmost care and respect. A generous exit package, including severance, bonus, and health coverage, will be provided to those affected.
I understand that this news is difficult to digest, especially following the success of The Final Shape. However, after navigating broader economic realities over the past year and exploring all other options, this decision has become necessary to realign our studio’s focus and ensure our financial stability.
We are also committing to two major changes that we believe will support our focus, leverage Sony’s strengths, and create new opportunities for our talent.
First, we will deepen our integration with Sony Interactive Entertainment by transitioning 155 roles, about 12% of our workforce, to SIE over the next few quarters. SIE has worked diligently with us to find positions for many of our team members, helping to retain valuable talent that would otherwise have been affected by the reduction.
Second, we are collaborating with PlayStation Studios leadership to spin out one of our incubation projects—a new action game set in an innovative science-fantasy universe—into a new studio within PlayStation Studios to continue its promising development.
These changes mark a significant period of transformation for our studio. To understand how we arrived at this point, it’s important to reflect on our journey.
For over five years, our goal was to develop games within three enduring global franchises. We launched several incubation projects, each led by senior developers from our existing teams. However, we eventually realized this model spread our talent too thin and strained our support structures, especially given the demands of our primary projects, Destiny and Marathon.
Moreover, in 2023, our rapid expansion collided with an economic slowdown, a downturn in the gaming industry, and challenges with Destiny 2: Lightfall. We needed to allocate more time to The Final Shape and Marathon to ensure they meet the high standards our players expect. Our ambition exceeded our financial safety margins, and we began to face financial difficulties.
Recognizing this new trajectory, we knew we had to adjust our course. Despite our extensive efforts to address our financial issues, these steps were insufficient to avoid today’s outcome.
As a result, we must say goodbye to remarkable talent, colleagues, and friends. This period will be challenging for Bungie, and we will need to support our team through these changes in the coming weeks. We will provide opportunities for team meetings, town halls, breakout sessions, and individual conversations to ensure open and transparent communication.
Bungie remains committed to creating exceptional games. We still have over 850 team members dedicated to building Destiny and Marathon, and we will continue to deliver experiences that exceed our players’ expectations.
Today, our focus is on supporting our people. There will be a time to discuss our goals and projects, but for now, we must prioritize the well-being of our team.
