Morale at Bungie is Reportedly at an All-Time Low Following Recent Layoffs

gamingbolt.com:

In October, it was reported that Bungie had joined the ever-growing list of studios that have been hit with layoffs in 2023, with around 100 jobs being affected at the Destiny developer. As per a report published by IGN, it seems things have only gotten worse at the studio since then. Owing to the possibility of Sony dissolving Bungie’s board and taking full control of the company, the developer has been making significant cutbacks in various other areas, while the relationship between leadership and employees continues to grow more adversarial, the report claims.

In addition to the recent round of layoffs, in order to cut costs, Bungie leadership has taken a number of additional steps that have allegedly impacted employees’ morale, including internal studio events being either pared back or outright cancelled, Holiday bonuses and annual employee compensation adjustments being eliminated, and cutbacks in other areas, like travel budget, a studio-wide hiring freeze, a reduction in annual performance bonuses, and more.

In fact, the report also states that if the upcoming Destiny 2: The Final Shape does not perform well following its launch in June next year, Bungie may very well be headed for further layoffs. One developer said anonymously, “We know we need Final Shape to do well. And the feeling at the studio is that if it doesn’t we’re definitely looking at more layoffs.” Previously, it was reported that the expansion’s pre-orders were tracking below internal expectations.

It’s also been claimed that the relationship between studio leadership and employees has grown increasingly rocky owing to a number of factors, such as the layoffs affecting a number of popular, key figures at the studio, employees being discouraged