15 months after being purchased by Sony, Destiny 2 developer Bungie is now faced with studio and staff departures. The layoffs were confirmed by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier (pay wall), as Bungie CEO Pete Parsons sent an email to staffers, informing them of their releases. The number is reported to be about, if not exceeding, 100 employees. One of the reasons indicates Destiny 2's waning popularity and incoming revenue being 45% lower than executives would've anticipated. These layoffs will also affect the release date of expansion, Destiny 2: The Final Shape.

Former employees affected by the cuts have made the news known on their social media accounts. Destiny 2's player count has been in a steady decline, as Parsons places the blame on the most recent expansion, Lightfall. Most new and veteran players citing its bland and directionless narrative. 

Hey friends!
This morning I was affected by the layoffs at Bungie.
I'll be fine. 20 years in the industry, you learn to roll with punches like these.

But I will miss my team dearly.

Going to take a beat before refocusing and figuring out what's next for me.

In times like…

— Art of Nintendo Power ➡️ PRGE (@ArtofNP) October 30, 2023

With Bungie being quite an acquisition by Sony, it was speculated that the studio would aid in broadening the PlayStation's lack of GAAS (games as a service), as per soon-to-be-former CEO Jim Ryan wished to expand upon. Destiny, being Bungie's one intellectual property, has seen its share of success in success, but stagnation is causing a dwindling player count. 

This also isn't the only Sony studio seeing cuts in the workforce. Naughty Dog, likely seeing their multiplayer game efforts go up in smoke, cut their staff, including Connie Booth, who was reported to be told to leave the premises following major disagreements of the live service model direction for the brand. Visual Arts (Angel Beats, Little Busters) and Media Molecule (Dreams, LittleBigPlanet) have also seen a reduction of staffers in recent days and weeks. There is such a bizarre shakeup going on at Sony, as any vision for a plan in the future comes off as murky and indecipherable.

SOURCES: GamesRadar, Bloomberg