Whatever happens, the layoffs in the games industry will continue, and there’s an explanation for them.
Bungie has let some people go. The problem is that many of them were veterans. That alone has rattled the public’s nerves, and the studio’s announcement called Our Path Forward hasn’t helped matters: “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 each other, including those who are in the studio, as well as friends and colleagues who are no longer there. We want to acknowledge your feedback and concerns about Lightfall and recent seasons, as well as your reactions to the reveal of The Final Shape. We know that we have lost much of your trust. Destiny needs to surprise and delight. We haven’t done that enough, and that’s going to change. The way forward is clear to us. We must make The Final Shape an unforgettable Destiny experience. We want to build something that will stand alongside the best games we’ve ever made. A fitting culmination that honours the journey we’ve been on together over the past 10 years. Forsaken, The Witch Queen and The Taken King are the standard bearers we want to live up to.
We’re intensely focused on exceeding your expectations for The Final Form. Destiny 2 has over 650 dedicated teammates who are pouring their energy and expertise into delivering this epic moment and the episodes that follow. In the coming weeks, you’ll hear more from us about what’s next on the near-term horizon, starting with our next season at the end of November. After that, we’ll begin to unpack our team’s bigger, bolder, brighter vision for The Final Shape and the bridge we plan to build to take us all out of this darkness and into the light,” Bungie wrote.
A bit of context: Lightfall, released in February, was not well received as it was a huge step backwards compared to The Witch Queen that preceded it. Since then, criticism has been mounting (player burnout, i.e. boredom with the seasonal model; monetisation). Interestingly, Bungie hasn’t talked about a delay, but Bloomberg is already reporting that the 27 February release will be pushed back to June, as the KI has received “good but not great” feedback during internal testing. Lightfall and the subsequent drop in player numbers may also have played a role in the delay…
The feedback from players is not positive this time either. Some have lost faith in management and want to see a change in the industry, others see Bungie’s announcement as soulless PR, and some say there’s a lack of respect when laid-off employees have no choice but to be fired. Bungie CEO Pete Parsons wrote that it was a sad day for them as they said goodbye to people who had made a significant impact on the studio. It was also not good for the company’s image. So it is fair to ask: if they delay the release by three months, what will they achieve?
WCCFTech asked Karol Severin, senior gaming industry analyst at MIDiA Research, if the recent cuts were due to the declining growth rate. This was the answer: “The recent layoffs are part of the correction, where companies have to become more profit-oriented, as debt is much more expensive than it used to be. Of course, with slower revenue growth rates ahead, the path to profitability often requires cost-cutting, of which layoffs are a part”.
So the balloon is popping.
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