Chicago, August 3: After laying off hundreds of employees, Sony Interactive Entertainment-owned Bungie Inc. brought the workforce of video gaming developers from 1,300 to 850. With this much deduction in the workforce, the company's nature reportedly would change. Bungie, the US-based video game company known for developing Destiny game and the storied Halo franchise, laid off 220 employees on July 31, 2024.

The Bungie layoffs also affected the company's top executives and several departments, including teams from the audio, player support and narrative divisions, according to a report by Bloomberg. The report said the company would also move more 155 people from the video game development to Sony Interactive Entertainment. The separate group under Sony would continue developing a project codenamed "Gummybear". Intel Layoffs: Chip Giant To Lay Off 15,000 Employees Amid Cost-Cutting Measures To Reduce Spending by USD 10 Billion in 2025.

The report highlighted that despite having success with video game series like Halo and Destiny, Bungie's game developer studio had big misses that led to a loss of money in the past two years. Bungie layoffs initiated this week are the second round in less than a year, and they were implemented to cut costs. Previously, the company was forced to hold the salaries of the employees to reduce costs and lay off hundreds of workers. 

According to Bloomberg, one Bungie employee said that the company grew too fast and had spent its resources on several projects instead of prioritising the Destiny 2 online game, which was making money. Bloomberg said that most people were critical of CEO Pete Parson, whom they alleged failed to take responsibility for his "own bad bets" and showed optimism to the employees. Apple Arcade: Game Developers Express Frustrations Over Delays and Support Issues With Apple’s Gaming Platform; Know Why?.

Chicago-based Bungie game developer company was founded in 1991 by Alex Seropian and Jason Jones. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Sony purchased the company due to the potential of the optimistic future of the Destiny 2 video game. Sony Interactive Entertainment bought the company for USD 3.6 billion. Bungie reportedly hired new people to work on several incubation projects, including the Destiny game mobile version and remaking of old and new games.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 03, 2024 10:52 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).