Bungie Lays Off 220 Staff Unexpectedly

Today, Halo and Destiny 2 publishers Bungie laid off 220 staff, or 17% of their workforce, stating that the company is going down a "new path."

"Today is a difficult and painful day, especially for our departing colleagues, all of which have made important and valuable contributions to Bungie," CEO Pete Parsons wrote on the company's official blog. "Our goal is to support them with the utmost care and respect. For everyone affected by this job reduction, we will be offering a generous exit package, including severance, bonus and health coverage."

Bungie employees - both past and present - have responded to the layoffs, with some calling them "infuriating" and "unexpected." Many have also noted that they weren't warned about the layoffs, and that they had, to the contrary, been hearing "cautiously encouraging stuff" from leadership.

"[It's like] a part of me just died," said Jason Pfitzer, who worked as a UI designer for Bungie.  "Was just so caught off-guard by today. No warning this was coming...feels so soon and so catasrophic considering the last wave wasn't that long ago." 

Following the layoffs, Bungie says it still has 850 team members working on Destiny and Marathon, and promises that the company "will continue to make great games." Bungie also said it will deepen its integration with Sony and work with PlayStation Studios to create "an action game set in a brand-new science fantasy universe."