Sony tillkännagav en våg av uppsägningar på Bungie efter slutet av Destiny 2-supporten

June 9 marked the day Destiny 2, released by Bungie in 2017, received its final update titled The Final Shape. This sparked a wave of discontent among fans, especially in light of the lukewarm reception to the new game from the Marathon developers. As a result, the company also announced a new round of layoffs.

The official statement came from Hermen Hulst, CEO of PlayStation Studios. In his speech, he announced that Bungie has begun a reorganization process following the recent end of support for Destiny 2. He also mentioned that the game had failed to meet the company's expectations in recent years. Meanwhile, Bloomberg's journalist Jason Schreier added that the exact number of layoffs remains unknown, but nearly all developers who worked on Destiny, as well as those involved with the aforementioned Marathon and other Sony employees, were affected.

Jason Schreier reports that Bungie’s latest layoffs have affected most of the Destiny development team, some Marathon team members, and several Sony employees who worked with Bungie.

Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hermen Hulst confirmed the layoffs, saying: “We have made the decision to reduce Bungie’s workforce, affecting a significant number of employees, including most of the Destiny team and some Marathon team members.”

Speaking about Marathon, the new online shooter from Bungie released in March this year, the studio launched the game's second season this month and also offered players a free week of gameplay across all platforms. However, according to Forbes, this did not help the game attract a new audience: while there were around 40,000 players on Steam at launch, that number steadily declined to between 12,000 and 15,000. In fact, according to SteamDB, the peak player count over the past 24 hours was just over 9,000, whereas Destiny 2 currently boasts a much higher online presence, with more than 90,000 and 65,000 players online, respectively.

Are you disappointed that Sony announced a new wave of layoffs at Bungie? Share your thoughts in the comments below!