After the last wave of layoffs from Bungie, the Destiny studio announced that it would transfer up to 155 professionals to Sony to strengthen the company in the area of “Live Service.” When this plan was to be implemented had not yet been known until now.
What did I miss? Bungie was hit by two waves of layoffs. One before and one after the release of The Final Shape. The second wave, and the hardest one for the developers, affected many employees and high-ranking staff from the development of Bungie.
A large group was laid off, while a small part from Sony, a total of 155 employees (12% of Bungie), was reserved to work later at the studios of the Japanese developer. Until now, it was still unclear when this “move” would take place, but according to the latest information, it is starting now.
Sony strengthens its front in the area of “Live Service”
What supports the start of the restructuring? Bridget O’Neill, Senior Director in Bungie’s Creative Studios, announced that she is moving to Sony after 2 years and 2 months to perform the same role there as at the Destiny developer.
On LinkedIn, she states on October 22, 2024: “Today was the last day of my team at Bungie, but not the last day of our work on Destiny (and Marathon)! The Bungie Creative Studios are joining the PlayStation Studios to lay the foundation for a creative team that can support all PlayStation Live Service games. As part of this step, I am taking on a new role as Senior Director of Creative at PlayStation Studios.”
According to her post, the entire Creative Studios team has moved to Sony to work not only on Destiny 2 and Marathon but also on future projects of the Japanese developer.
Bungie has significant experience in the Live Service area with Destiny. This experience can be utilized by the newly acquired team to help shape not only Destiny 2 and Marathon but also additional new titles for Sony. Which titles these will be remains to be seen.
What impact does this have for Destiny 2? Bridget O’Neill herself assures that her work on Destiny 2 is not over and that she will continue to work on the loot shooter. To what extent this will be possible, with new projects and the upcoming shooter “Marathon,” is still unclear.
However, for those who venture into the loot shooter as a Destiny fan at this time, they will find that it has lost much of its shine since the hype around The Final Shape has died down. The episodes feel too thin in terms of content and offer little new to keep players engaged for long periods of time. This is also clearly reflected in the current player numbers on Steam: Destiny 2 had its lowest player count on Steam in September – despite an expansion with 90% reviews on Metacritic.
