The makers of Destiny 2 are the latest developer to be hit by a major round of layoffs, as Marathon and The Final Shape are delayed.
When Sony bought Halo and Destiny creator Bungie last year, staff were assured that it wouldn’t result in layoffs – despite that always being a consequence of acquisitions, to some degree. Predictably, it’s been a promise that Sony hasn’t been able to keep, with confirmation that a number of staff have been made redundant.
It’s still unclear exactly how many have gone but CEO Pete Parsons has stated on Twitter that, ‘Today is a sad day at Bungie as we say goodbye to colleagues who have all made a significant impact on our studio. What these exceptional individuals have contributed to our games and Bungie culture has been enormous and will continue to be a part of Bungie long into the future.’
One of those affected appears to be composer Michael Salvatori, with initial rumours suggesting he was amongst those losing his job and his own website now updated to show only the message ‘Gone fishin’’.
Rumours of the layoffs first emerged online, alongside the suggestion that both Destiny 2 expansion The Final Shape and multiplayer reboot Marathon have been delayed, with Marathon apparently moving back as far as 2025.
The Final Shape is set to be the concluding part in the long-running Light and Darkness saga and was originally scheduled for February 27, 2024. It’s now due sometime in June.
A Bloomberg report by Jason Schreier was the first to get wind of the news, but it quickly became obvious it was true as staff that were laid off began commenting on the situation via Twitter.
Update: Although there’s no official confirmation of the numbers, the latest Bloomberg report suggest that around 100 staff have been let go – about 8% of Bungie’s 1,200 workforce.
Supposedly, management made ominous warnings, a few weeks beforehand, that revenues were down 45% on expectations, as a result of a decline in popularity of Destiny 2.
According to Bloomberg the move is part of a larger ‘money-saving initiative’ at Sony, that has seen similar job cuts at other studios, such as The Last Of Us creator Naughty Dog, LittleBigPlanet developer Media Molecule, the Visual Arts Service Group, and long-serving head of internal production Connie Booth.
The cuts are also part of a pattern of layoffs that have affected multiple video game companies, from current Halo developer 343 Industries to indie publisher Team17.
As well as working on their own games, Bungie was also helping Sony in general with its live service plans and reportedly were the ones that suggested Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us multiplayer needed further work, seemingly putting it on the back burner.
That makes this news the latest circumstantial evidence to suggest that Sony is back-tracking on its plans to release 10 live service titles by 2026, especially given none have even been shown in action yet and PlayStation boss Jim Ryan, who supposedly championed the idea, is now leaving the company.
However, it’s Salvatori’s exit from Bungie that has upset fans the most so far, not only because his music was popular but because his layoff seems so unnecessary, given Bungie is still going to need a composer of some sort for its games.
‘How the HELL could have they gotten rid of Micheal Salvatori??,’ says The Jhen Mohran on Twitter.
‘Without Micheal Salvatori, I promise you; Destiny is now going to die. You can NOT replace him,’ agreed ZubatBearian. ‘He’s one the BEST composers ever IMO. The music will never be the same.’
‘If 343i doesn’t hire Micheal Salvatori it’s the biggest whiff of all time,’ suggests RubyAWH, with several other fans making similar comments.
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