"Inexcusable" - current and former Bungie employees react to sweeping layoffs
"Step down, Pete."
Current and former employees of Destiny 2 developer Bungie have responded to the news of devastating layoffs at the studio - which has seen 220 employees lose their jobs - aiming harsh criticism at the handling of the cuts amid calls for Bungie CEO Pete Parsons to resign.
Parsons announced the studio would be laying off approximately 17 percent of its workforce earlier today, blaming "rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions." The news marks the second round of job cuts at the studio in less than a year, with approximately 100 employees having been laid off last October.
Following this latest round of job cuts, former and current Bungie employees took to social media to lambast the decision. Destiny 2's global community lead Dylan Gafner (AKA dmg04) called the move "inexcusable" in a post on X. "Industry leading talent being lost, yet again," he wrote. "Accountability falling upon the workers who have pushed the needle to deliver for our community time and time again."
"I'm safe but I'm fucking enraged," Bungie technical UX designer Ash Duong wrote in response to today's news. "This is hitting people who were told they were valued. That they were important. That they were critical to business success. But none of that mattered."
Others more directly aimed their ire at Parsons. Bungie's former global social media lead Griffin Bennett, who was laid off as part of last year's job cuts, posted, "Pete is a joke", while former Destiny 2 community manager Liana Ruppert wrote, "Step down, Pete."
Anger at Parsons was also felt in the community, with noted Destiny content creator MyNameIsByf (AKA Lore Daddy) posting on X, "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."
Criticism of Parsons' leadership, and the devastating impact Bungie management's decisions have had on its employees, follows a series of troubling reports that have surfaced since last October. In December, Bungie employees told IGN the mood at the studio was "soul-crushing" as leadership implemented harsh cost-cutting measures, seemingly in a bid to cling onto independence following Sony's acquisition of Bungie in 2020. It was also claimed senior management met employees' sadness at last year's layoffs with "indifference or even outright flippancy or hostility", and that leadership rebuffed suggestions they took a salary cut to prevent future cuts, telling workers, Bungie is "not that type of company".
In November, it was reported last year's layoffs followed internal warnings that studio revenue was 45 percent below projections due to a "sharp drop" in the popularity of Destiny 2 - news that was followed by an open letter to players admitting the studio had "lost a lot of your trust" and promising a "bigger, bolder, and brighter" future for the game.