Bungie, the Sony-owned game studio behind Destiny 2, let go of an undisclosed number of staffers, part of a wider restructuring of the Japanese giant’s video-game operation.
"Today is a sad day at Bungie as we say goodbye to colleagues who have all made a significant impact on our studio,” Bungie Chief Executive Officer Pete Parsons wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Bungie recently delayed an upcoming Destiny 2 expansion, The Final Shape, until June from February, pushing it out of Sony Group’s current fiscal year, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Bungie’s next game, Marathon, slipped to 2025.
Sony, which purchased Bungie in early 2022 for $3.6 billion, has been cutting staff across its PlayStation division this year, in part due to delays. The unit lost several key producers this year, and PlayStation boss Jim Ryan said last month he will retire in March.
In a note to investors, TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz wrote that "events over the last few days lead us to believe that PlayStation is undergoing a restructuring.”
Thousands of video-game workers have been let go in 2023 so far as companies look to cut costs, even after a year full of hits. Last month, Epic Games cut around 900 staff.
In an earlier email to employees seen by Bloomberg, Parsons said staffers would be "hearing some news today” and that there would be a team meeting later in the day to "discuss today’s events.”
The company didn’t respond to a request for comment on the number or extent of the job cuts. Destiny 2 is a first-person shooter title set in a science-fiction world.
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