Games Industry Criticizes Bungie Management, CEO Pete Parsons in Wake of Layoffs: ‘Inexcusable’
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Today, Destiny developer Bungie announced another massive round of layoffs following several months of internal turmoil and the launch of Destiny 2: The Final Shape. In a post on Bungie’s blog, CEO Pete Parsons announced that 220 roles, or 17% of Bungie’s workforce, were eliminated due to “financial challenges.”
Now, in the wake of these layoffs, quite a few employees who were laid off (along with other members of the games industry) have taken to social media to share their concerns and criticisms about Bungie’s management, with many even demanding that Parsons step down.
While fears of layoffs were reportedly prevalent within the studio, many employees expressed that their own layoffs were unexpected due to recent actions taken by leaders at Bungie. One music designer shared that they were reassured that they were needed, only to be laid off today. “There’s nothing I could’ve done to not be laid off,” they wrote.
looks like i got hit. i work A LOT and im obsessed with work, everyone knows this. there’s nothing i could’ve done to not be laid off. in fact i was literally working so much that so many people told me “you’ll be ok, we need you to train/manage the outsourcers” https://t.co/lLZ4piq9bB
— ナディア nadia (@nadiaudio) July 31, 2024
Another employee shared that she was laid off just a month after being promoted.
I didn’t even tweet that I got promoted last month, but now I get to tweet that I got laid off, so there’s that. gonna miss my team. https://t.co/4OE6R3dclt
— beau (she/her) (@BeauOckers) July 31, 2024
Meanwhile, employees at Bungie who were unaffected by the layoffs have also made posts in support of their now former coworkers. Bungie’s global community lead, known as dmg04 online, called the layoffs “inexcusable.” “Accountability falling upon the workers who have pushed the needle to deliver for our community time and time again,” he wrote.
Inexcusable. Industry leading talent being lost, yet again. Accountability falling upon the workers who have pushed the needle to deliver for our community time and time again.
Please maintain focus on those who’ve lost their position & income. Offer help where you can. https://t.co/SSDveUd5uW
— dmg04 (@A_dmg04) July 31, 2024
A few people also noted that Bungie’s player support team was heavily impacted. One employee noted that her “whole team is gone,” while a former community manager (whose position was eliminated during Bungie’s last round of layoffs) noted that player support employees dealt with harsh conditions and “worked harder than anyone else, through weekends – holidays – and the pay was atrocious, only to [get] tossed out so LY could get their personal buyouts.”
The player support team was also gutted, as well as some of the folks behind the most beloved narrative moments and sounds. The player support team worked harder than anyone else, through weekends – holidays – and the pay was atrocious… only to the tossed out so LY could get… https://t.co/z2XveKAjay
— Liana Ruppert (@DirtyEffinHippy) July 31, 2024
my whole team is gone.
— ☾ Alexandra, alexthegr8r on bsky (@_AlexTheGr8r_) July 31, 2024
Throughout the games industry, others have criticized Bungie’s management, with many in the Destiny 2 community attributing the layoffs to poor decisions made by leadership. Destiny 2 lore YouTuber My name is Byf said Bungie has been “reckless with the studio, its employees, and its franchises. The problem is clear. Bad leadership. It needs to change.”
Leadership needs to be changed.
Their decisions have consistently led to disaster for everyone who has actually been making the games we play.
They’ve been reckless with the studio, its employees, and its franchises.
The problem is clear. Bad leadership. It needs to change. https://t.co/ga01igprSl pic.twitter.com/lQhmkUIzgw
— My name is Byf (Lore Daddy) (@MyNameIsByf) July 31, 2024
Pete is a joke. https://t.co/TtFtEzS0gF
— Griffin Bennett (@GriffinWB) July 31, 2024
Others, including more former employees of Bungie, demanded that Parsons take a pay cut or step down.
Step down, Pete. https://t.co/I5d7L8kcfq
— Liana Ruppert (@DirtyEffinHippy) July 31, 2024
Calls for Parsons to step down were only amplified by a few fans’ discoveries of what appears to be his account on a car bidding site called Bring A Trailer. One player compiled a spreadsheet showing his car purchases, showing that he has apparently spent about $500,000 on vintage cars since Bungie’s last round of layoffs in October.
Bungie lays off 17% of it’s workforce… unrelated here is a list of cars the CEO has purchased on BAT
Players and workers need to support each other.https://t.co/48qToI4Cf7
— TAILORED (@boxrTailored) July 31, 2024
The announcement of layoffs, along with calls for Parsons to resign, come just under two months after Bungie released Destiny 2: The Final Shape, which brings the game’s story to a close and was well-received by players despite facing several launch issues. Shortly after the release of The Final Shape, Bungie also announced Codename Frontiers, a mysterious new update slated for release in 2025. Bungie also has a revival of Marathon in the works, which will be the series’ first installment since 1996.
However, despite its multiple upcoming projects and well-received recent titles, Bungie has been in turmoil for months. In October, Bungie was hit with a smaller, albeit significant, round of layoffs that was reportedly due to Destiny 2 underperforming. This round of layoffs led to delays for The Final Shape as well as Marathon, which had not been given an official release window but was reportedly delayed internally from 2024 to 2025.
Following October’s layoffs, a Bungie developer described the studio’s morale as “soul-crushing,” with other developers describing mounting fears of more cost-cutting measures as well as a total Sony takeover. Months later in March, Bungie replaced its Marathon director amid internal pressure to ship the game.
Following the replacement of Marathon’s director, one source with knowledge of Bungie’s budgeting told IGN that “something will need to happen to curb costs unless The Final Shape does so well to cover the gap and people can move to Marathon,” referring to fears of another round of layoffs following The Final Shape’s release — the layoffs that happened today.
Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun, and they recently released a game called Garage Sale. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.
