It’s a sad case of another day, another round of mass layoffs at a game studio. On this occasion, Destiny developer Bungie has announced it is letting go of 220 employees, or 17% of its workforce. CEO Pete Parsons said the eliminations were due to “financial challenges,” which isn’t going down well, especially after it was discovered he may have spent over $2.4 million on classic cars after Sony acquired the company, and continued buying them even after the previous layoffs.
Bungie blames the job eliminations on “rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions.” The Sony subsidiary says it needs to make substantial changes to its cost structure and focus development efforts entirely on Destiny and Marathon.
The cuts will impact every level of the company, including executives and senior leader roles – but not Parsons, obviously.
It was only in October 2023 that Bungie made its last round of layoffs, and the news comes just under two months since the launch of Destiny 2: The Final Shape, which has been well-received.
In December, Bungie devs told IGN that the atmosphere at the company was “soul-crushing” due to fears of more layoffs, extra cost-cutting measures, and a loss of all independence from Sony if Bungie’s financials did not improve. Staff said earlier this year that they feared more job cuts were coming.
The latest layoffs have led to many angry posts on social media from current and former Bungie employees. Destiny 2’s global community lead Dylan Gafner (AKA dmg04) called the move “inexcusable,” and noted that it’s a case of “Accountability falling upon the workers who have pushed the needle to deliver for our community time and time again.”
What’s angering people even further is the discovery of what seems to be Parsons’ account on a car bidding site called Bring a Trailer. It shows he has spent $2.4 million on classic cars since September 2022, which includes $500,000 since the October layoffs.
I’m all for fixing the system but why does the employee CEO of company not get to spend his wages on whatever he wants just like the rest of us?
Was it company money he spent it on? Is he a maj shareholder?
People are pointing out the juxtaposition of many people losing their jobs while one person spends silly amounts of money on toys. It’s not that he spent it on toys, it’s that he made so much that he was able to waste it on frivolity while others around him suffered.
If the company is doing this poorly under his leadership, why is it he gets to keep his obscene pay while others lose their jobs, their healthcare and maybe their homes?
I’m beyond sick of our class structure.
That’s the thing, it might have been company funds. Back when Sony bought Bungie, they made a giant fund for severance in case of layoffs, so that devs would have a bit of a safety net if worst came to worst. Fast forward to October 30th, 2023, and that money is just… Gone with the wind. My facts may be a little muddled but I’m fairly certain that’s how it played out.
He should’ve resigned before anything else. His direction is what put the company into a shaky financial situation.