Bungie lays off nearly 300 Bellevue employees after video game update falls short

A Bellevue-based video game studio, Bungie, laid off 292 employees on Thursday following its final update to one of its staple video game franchises, which the company said “fell short of expectations.”

The layoffs impacted most of the employees working on the “Destiny” series and a small number of members working on the “Marathon” video game, Hermen Hulst, CEO of Sony Studio Business Group, said in an email to Sony Interactive Entertainment employees, according to The Seattle Times.

All of the impacted employees were working at Bungie’s Bellevue location at 550 106th Avenue N.E., and have an anticipated layoff date as early as July 9, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing.

A vast majority of the positions impacted include video game engineers, producers, and designers. The latest layoff announcement marks the company’s third round of layoffs in the last three years.

Bungie says the cuts are necessary to ‘best position the studio’ for the future

In a social media post, Bungie announced the workforce reduction “with great sadness,” as the studio works to reorganize itself.

“We know this decision has a profound impact on the people affected, their families, friends, and teammates,” Bungie stated.”While these changes are necessary to best position the studio now and for the future, that does not lessen the difficulty of this moment or the impact it has on those affected.”

Bungie noted that it recognized “Destiny 2” fell short of expectations over the past few years, and considering other future projects were still in “early incubation,” the studio couldn’t continue to operate at its previous size.

“Later, we will share more about that future with you, but today is not that day,” Bungie stated. “Today, we wish to extend our gratitude and compassion to every member of the Bungie team who has been impacted and to those who remain.”

Bungie’s history includes the creation of the iconic ‘Halo’ franchise

Bungie was acquired by Microsoft in 2000, leading to the creation of Bungie’s most notable video game development, the “Halo” franchise, which was released in late 2001 as the launch title for the original Xbox console.

Bungie went on to develop five “Halo” video games under Microsoft before the two parted ways in late 2007. The “Halo” series is currently developed and managed by Microsoft’s Halo Studios, formerly known as 343 Industries.

Bungie was an independent studio after its split with Microsoft up until 2022, when the studio was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment for $3.6 billion.

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