Bungie Layoffs: Nearly 300 Cut from Bellevue Headquarters Alone

Official records reveal that Bungie's latest round of layoffs, announced yesterday, affected nearly 300 employees at its Bellevue, Washington office. A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice filed by Sony with the Washington State Employment Security Department, as reported by Game File, indicates that 292 staff members have been let go, with a formal separation date of July 9. This figure does not include Bungie employees outside Washington state. The total remaining staff count is unknown, though the studio reportedly had 850 employees as of 2024.

This marks Bungie's third round of layoffs in three years. According to The Seattle Times, Bungie once had 1,000 employees in Bellevue, as per a 2023 city financial report. Between October 2023 and July 2024, Bungie laid off around 320 staff. Local media have described the cuts as a "bloodbath."

In a statement yesterday, Hermen Hulst, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment's Studio Business Group, spoke generally about the layoffs, noting that a "significant" number of employees were affected, hitting "most of the Destiny team and some Marathon team members." Hulst called the decision "difficult" and "painful" but "necessary to align the studio’s resources with its current priorities and long-term goals." The news follows the recent end of new content for Destiny 2 and the release of hardcore extraction shooter Marathon, which has struggled to attract players. Sony insists it remains committed to Marathon, whose team is also working on "incubation efforts for future projects."

The WARN notice redacts individual names but includes job titles, revealing that cuts spanned all departments, including artists, technical animators, audio leads, sound designers, engineers, producers, systems designers, and integrated Sony support teams managing day-to-day Bungie infrastructure.

Many former Bungie staff have taken to social media to confirm they were affected, including veterans with over a decade at the studio. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier said Bungie studio head Justin Truman, who succeeded Pete Parsons last year, has stepped down. According to Forbes reporter Paul Tassi, former Bungie VP of Operations Poria Torkan has reportedly taken charge.

Social media users have noted the mention of "Chief Vision Officer" in the WARN notice, sparking speculation that this refers to Bungie co-founder and Halo and Destiny creator Jason Jones, who maintains a low profile. Jones appeared in an official Destiny 2 video in 2021 as Chief Vision Officer. If Jones has left Bungie—unconfirmed as of now—it would mark a true end of an era for the studio behind iconic first-person shooters.

Bungie has faced financial struggles for some time and was reportedly on the brink of closure before Sony acquired the studio in 2022 for $3.6 billion. Sony recently reported a $765 million impairment loss due to Bungie's underperformance.

Destiny 2's issues reportedly began around the summer 2023 expansion Edge of Fate, which underperformed. The decision to end new content was made "earlier this year" after scrapping plans to relaunch the franchise as "Destiny Infinity." Forbes reported that Bungie discussed different futures for Destiny 2 after December's Star Wars-themed crossover expansion Renegades performed worse than Edge of Fate, failing to improve sales or retention.

Destiny Infinity would have been a relaunch with a return to the one-big-expansion model, but the idea was shelved due to high costs and risks, especially with Marathon needing support. Destiny 3 was considered but not pursued, with production costs cited as a key issue.

Destiny 2 launched on PS4 and Xbox One on September 6, 2017, with a PC version a month later. Tensions between Bungie and Activision led to their split in January 2019, ending a 10-year publishing deal five years early. Bungie self-published Destiny afterward but couldn't escape financial troubles and layoffs as expansions failed and the player base shrank. Marathon launched in early March with a reported budget over $250 million but has reportedly failed to meet sales expectations.