Bungie has officially announced a significant round of layoffs following the end of live service support for Destiny 2, sending shock waves of emotions through developers at the studio, as well as the legions of fans for its popular looter shooter MMO.
Destiny took its first steps back in 2014 exclusively for PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and over the years had transitioned into Destiny 2, which launched initially on PS4, Xbox One, and PC via battle.net. It then made the jump to Steam and has remained there ever since. Earlier this year Bungie had announced that Destiny 2 would be ending live service updates. It’s final update went live on June 9 – a big, triumphant sendoff called Monuments of Triumph that added a ton of revised loot, new activities like Sparrow Racing League, Pantheon 2.0, and several other changes.
Leading up to the launch of the update, and even now weeks after, player numbers for the game have surged to beyond that of Destiny 2’s last two expansions. A good turn of events, to be sure. But it unfortunately wasn’t enough to overturn the fate of the studio’s developers that have been impacted, or the game itself.
Bungie confirms significant layoffs after Destiny 2 ends live service
It’s not entirely clear yet, and it may never be, how many developers exactly are being laid off today at the studio. However, it has been said that the number is significant. Reports from earlier in June stated it would be a “significant number of people.” More recently, it’s been said that the number would be around 50% of Bungie’s entire development staff.
Bungie’s somber announcement about the job cuts doesn’t mention a number, but it does note it cannot continue operating at the current size. In a separate announcement from Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hermen Hulst, the announcement mentions that it would be most of the Destiny 2 development team, and some of the team members from Marathon. It will also include some from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s side of things that were supporting the Destiny 2 operations. So as a whole, it’s most certainly a lot of people.
Gone, but not forgotten
Today is a sad day for Destiny 2 fans, but an even sadder day for those impacted at Bungie. The studio is losing a lot of really great talent. Talent that will be hard to replace. And even as the studio’s future feels like it remains in flux, what’s absolutely certain is that today’s layoffs are a major loss for everyone.
Destiny 2 was a special game that nothing else can compare to. Even now. And the team behind it, behind all of the gripping story beats and magical first-person shooter gameplay, the puzzle-filled raids that are unlike anything else in gaming, that team is being disbanded. As a massive Destiny fan, I can’t thank the team at Bungie enough for creating this world. Hopefully, every single person affected today is able to land on their feet quickly. And hopefully, one day, all of us can meet each other star-side once more, this time for Destiny 3. Destiny 2 as a live game may be gone, but not forgotten. Just as the developers leaving Bungie today won’t be forgotten for the magic they created over the years.
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