Bungie breaks silence on staff layoffs, no comment on Final Shape delay reports
Bungie has broken its silence over the layoffs which have recently taken place within the company, however they have failed to provide a comment on the delays reportedly affecting several Bungie titles.
The studio shared a blog post on 2 November stating that it acknowledges the pressure from fans for the eighth Destiny 2 expansion, The Final Shape, to be great, however not sharing any details on how the layoffs may impact this.
Bungie has finally spoken out about the staff layoffs earlier this week
In its weekly Thursday blog post, Bungie has given an update on the studios way forward after approximately members of staff were laid off. While no exact numbers seem to have been given, approximately 100 people appear to have lost their jobs at Bungie according to reports from IGN and Bloomberg.
The blog post reads: “This has been one of the most difficult weeks in our studio’s history, as we’ve parted ways with people we respect and admire. We’ve spent this week supporting one another, including those who are at the studio, as well as friends and colleagues who no longer are.
“We want to acknowledge the feedback and concerns you have about Lightfall and recent Seasons, as well as your responses to the reveal of The Final Shape. We know we have lost a lot of your trust. Destiny needs to surprise and delight. We haven’t done this enough and that’s going to change.
“To us the path forward is clear: We need to make The Final Shape an unforgettable Destiny experience. We want to build something that will be regarded alongside the best games we’ve ever made – a fitting culmination that honours the journey we’ve been on together for the past ten years. Forsaken, The Witch Queen, and The Taken King – these are the standard bearers we aim to live up to.
“We are intensely focused on exceeding your expectations for The Final Shape. Destiny 2 has more than 650 dedicated teammates pouring all their energy and expertise into delivering this epic moment and its subsequent Episodes.”
The post concludes by stating that the studio will release more information about what will be happening in the short term in the next few weeks before it begins to work on the "team's bigger, bolder, and brighter vision for The Final Shape."
While the post attempts to put players' minds at ease, reassuring them that Bungie is working to make the next expansion surpass everyone's expectations, it does little to back up these claims.
It also neglects to confirm or deny the reports of The Final Shape and other Bungie titles such as Marathon being delayed.
Players are not pleased with Bungie’s response to the layoffs
The reaction to Bungie’s blog post has not been especially positive, and many fans have noted the lack of focus on the people who lost their jobs in the layoffs.
One Twitter user said: “This is so out of touch. Majority of my feed isn’t about content, it's about letting people go. All this did was show they value their product over people.”
Another said: “"We need to figure out a way to still get you to spend money while avoiding talking about what happened" That's all I saw.”
Several other Twitter users commented that they had cancelled their pre-orders based on how the layoffs were handled.
The negative reaction is in part due to how Bungie CEO, Pete Parsons, shared the news about the job losses on Twitter earlier this week.
“Today is a sad day at Bungie as we say goodbye to colleagues who have all made a significant impact on our studio,” he said.
“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 announcement did not sit right with many of the studio's fans, and the subsequent blog post seems to only have fueled the negative reaction.
