Destiny 2 Studio Bungie Hit With Layoffs, Delays the Final Shape Expansion
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Bungie, currently known for the live service looter shooter Destiny 2, was not only hit with a wave of layoffs at the studio but is also delaying The Final Shape expansion from February to June, as well as pushing back the release window of their upcoming shooter Marathon to 2025.
This is according to a report from Bloomberg.
Around the same time this report was published, a series of Bungie employees reported on social media that they were laid off.
Once reports about the layoffs hit social media, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons sent a message saying:
"Today is a sad day at Bungie as we say goodbye to colleagues who have all made a significant impact on our studio. What these exceptional individuals have contributed to our games and Bungie culture has been enormous and will continue to be a part of Bungie long into the future."
The number of employees laid off at Bungie is still unclear, but it’s significant enough that they are pushing back projects, including the upcoming The Final Shape expansion, the final campaign that is said to conclude the dark and light saga of the game which first started in the first Destiny game.
The delay pushes the upcoming Destiny 2 expansion from February to sometime in June 2024, pushing it out of Sony Group Corp’s current fiscal year. This is a major blow to the community as a delay like this means Season 23, the last season before the live service games transition to the new episodic format next year, could be 5-6 months long due to this change.
Layoffs is definitely a major factor on the delay for the next expansion, but the reception of the recent expansion, Lightfall, made an effect as well as that piece of content is the most poorly received DLC in a long time. On Steam, Lightfall still holds a ‘Mostly Negative’ review rating. The last time a Destiny 2 DLC received such a reception in the platform was when they released the Shadowkeep expansion, the first DLC drop Bungie did when they began self-publishing Destiny 2.
Sony purchased Bungie in early 2022 for $3.6 billion and kept most of Bungie’s staff during the acquisition as the studio now under PlayStation started playing a key role in consulting on upcoming live service projects for the company.
As for their upcoming extraction shooter Marathon, not much is known beyond the delay to 2025 as that project is still considered to be a long way from release, or even ready to be fully shown to the public.
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