Bungie chief people officer on transforming into a digital-first studio
Danielle Partis
News Editor
Thursday 5th May 2022
The last two years have undoubtedly shaped how many industries function; flexible work is here to stay, and companies are shifting to give staff more control over how they do their jobs.
One studio leading the charge is Bungie, which recently announced its company-wide pivot to "digital-first." Hot off the heels of being acquired by Sony, the Destiny 2 maker is currently transforming to accommodate remote workers across several states in the US, while giving staff at its Washington-based HQ more options over how and where they work.
It's an ongoing process, but the firm has set itself up to hire remote employees in California, Oregon, Illinois, Florida, North Carolina and Texas, as well as its HQ state. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Bungie chief people officer Holly Barbacovi says that the studio has established a legal entity in The Netherlands too, where it hopes to expand in the future.
"We're prioritising places where we know there are large talent pools of game developers," Barbacovi tells us. "Our recruiting team is seeing that there are people who are unwilling to relocate, and we don't want to lose the opportunity to work with those folks."
Barbacovi tells us that the transformation to digital first has been an ongoing conversion at Bungie, particularly as its headquarters in Bellevue is undergoing renovation.
"As we have gotten closer and closer to making some really critical decisions about that space, we felt like we needed to make a decision about how we were going to bring people back," Barbacovi says.
She also notes that the studio shipped The Witch Queen back in February, a Destiny 2 expansion that came together during the pandemic, with a fully remote
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