Back in October, the Destiny developer company Bungie shocked many observers behind the industry, announcing the staff reduction, although this step became more understandable when it turned out that Destiny 2 did not reach its revenues for 2022. Obviously, things in Bungie are not going so well, but the new report of Rebekah Valentine from the IGN draws an even more terrible picture.
According to Valentine sources, much of what is happening in Bungie depends on the potential absorption of the company by Sony. Although Bungie had many different corporate hosts, they always retained their independence, but this may come to an end. Currently, the Bungie Board of Directors is divided between representatives of Bungie and Sony, while the Bungie team has a very insignificant advantage. Apparently, such a composition of the council depends on how much Bungie will correspond to certain financial indicators – if the studio does not reach them, Sony has the right to dissolve the advice and take control of everything.
Therefore, it is reported that recent dismissals and other measures to reduce expenses in Bungie come from the leadership of the studio, which is trying to maintain balance in order to avoid absorption. Among other measures to reduce expenses – "freezing of hiring throughout the studio, reducing the budget for trips, the abolition of festive bonuses" and other cutting of the usual events and amenities.
There is no need to say that this was not in the best way affected the moral spirit of the company, and the current mood, as they say, "heartbreaking". It is reported that the leadership does not make special efforts to dispel fears, and directly rejects the idea of reducing salaries in order to avoid a large number of dismissals.
At the moment, a lot depends on the Destiny 2: The Final Shape, the expansion finishing the saga, which was postponed for several months.
In Destiny 2, you can play PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PS5. The release of The Final Shape is scheduled for June 2024.