The US journalist Paul Tassi has been covering the online shooter Destiny 2 and Bungie for Forbes for years. Now he gives an insight into the current mood in the studio and what they think of the idea of developing a Destiny 3.
Where does the report come from? The insider report comes from Paul Tassi at Forbes. He says the layoffs at Bungie were so brutal and callous that many employees are now willing to talk to the press. The mood is extremely bad.
Investment bank-style layoffs
What made the layoffs so hard? Tassi writes:
The layoffs were investment bank style: people were blocked from access to their emails, accounts and systems. Employees were fired but not told to tell anyone and in some cases were not even given the opportunity to say goodbye to co-workers and friends.
Precisely because Bungie is so familial, the layoffs hit many people particularly hard. If one of 10 friends suddenly disappears, it is a serious blow to morale.
In addition, employees lost their shares in Bungie that they had received as part of the Sony purchase because, in order to secure these shares, they would have had to work at Bungie for longer. By being kicked out, shares revert to the very company that kicked them out.
Lightfall is said to have been a low point for Destiny 2:
Destiny 2: Lightfall – Launch Trailer
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Bosses don’t listen to developers’ requests
This is the mood in the studio: According to Tassi, many employees are dissatisfied with the management and are only now realizing what the developers have been telling them for a long time: Destiny 2 has many problems that urgently need to be addressed.
Apparently the 2023 expansion Lightfall was a negative turning point for Destiny 2: Although the original sales numbers were strong, players were highly dissatisfied with the expansion. The negative mood lasted throughout 2023 and game participation fell sharply.
Employees were repeatedly told that player satisfaction was at an all-time low – but that’s exactly what the employees themselves had long ago explained to the bosses and asked to be allowed to make some changes that would keep players coming back. However, many of the suggestions were rejected.
The situation will be exacerbated by the strong gaming year of 2023 with very strong games like Baldur’s Gate 3, which also eat up a lot of playing time.
People are being laid off while a new headquarters is being built
What particularly annoys employees? Many employees are dissatisfied with the decision that Bungie is setting up a new, huge headquarters in Bellevue (via bungie), which will cost tens of millions of US dollars, while at the same time Bungie is becoming a pioneer in the field of “home office”.
Advance sales for “The Final Shape” are slow
What are the future prospects? According to Tassi, the next Destiny expansion “The Final Shape” is considered “good, but not great.” Pre-orders are low. Therefore, they want to give the expansion four more months of development time. IGN and Bloomberg reported this, but Bungie itself has not yet confirmed it.
The marathon will also be postponed to 2025. This has to be a big hit so that Bungie has a new source of income alongside Destiny 2. But the game still looks “a little raw” at the moment.
Tassi currently sees the future prospects for Destiny 2 as extremely negative: If Bungie extended the current Season 23 by 6-7 months out of necessity, the mood would only sink even further and it is now at its lowest point ever. According to Tassi, many fans would cancel their pre-orders for Final Shape – and for many the expansion is already considered “The End of Destiny”, regardless of what Bungie claims or has planned.
What about Destiny 3? Tassi writes that many in the industry believe that Bungie should make a change now and work on Destiny 3 instead of endlessly tinkering with Destiny 2.
But there is absolutely no sign from Bungie that this is being considered.
According to Tassi, the situation at Bungie is terrible for everyone involved.
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