Summary
Sonyoverpaid for its acquisition ofBungie, says a former developer. This comes after awave of layoffs at Bungie, calling the company’s leadership into question.
Bungie Leadership Criticised Over Layoffs
“I think Sony overpaid for Bungie,” says the source. “I think Bungie sold things they were just not able to deliver.”
Three other sources are said to agree that Bungie leadership “overstated their studio’s financial prospect” to Sony. The layoffs are described as a “reality check”, as the latest Destiny 2 expansion, The Final Shape, reportedly failed to meet sales expectations, according to another source.
Other sources speaking to GameFile add that this is nothing new, with Bungie also failing to meet financial targets.
Sony acquired Bungie in 2022 for $3.6 billion. This came shortly after Xboxrevealed its intentions to acquire Activision Blizzardfor around $70 million.
Of course, this is far from the only criticism being levied against Bungie’s leadership. After news of the layoffs was made public, it was quickly highlighted thatCEO Pete Parsons has spent $2.4 million on luxury cars since 2022. Parsons is unaffected by the job losses and is staying in his position at Bungie.
The layoffs are wide-reaching, with the narrative lead of The Final Shape, Kwan Perng, among those who have lost their jobs. This is despite The Final Shape being met with positive reviews from both fans and critics alike - something that seemingly didn’t translate into the sales that Sony was hoping for.
As the layoffs make up roughly 17 percent of Bungie’s workforce, it will almost definitely impact projects that it’s working on. A new game codenamed “Project Payback"was reportedly shelved, although it has been reported that this decision was made prior to the layoffs. It had also been reported that Project Payback was “the next Destiny”, but it has since been claimed by sources thatDestiny 3 is not in development.
