Bungie has acknowledged this week’s string of layoffs, which affected over 100 employees at the company.
Earlier this week, Bungie employees began posting on social media about being let go from the company. Throughout the week, it was revealed that several dozen former employees were let go, around eight percent of the studio, according to a report by Bloomberg.
“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,” the studio said in a new blog post today. “We’ve spent this week supporting one another, including those who are at the studio, as well as friends and colleagues who no longer are.
The blog post did not confirm Schreier’s other report that Destiny 2’s next expansion, The Final Shape, has been delayed from February to June. But it did acknowledge that sentiment between the community and the developer has gone sour.
“We want to acknowledge the feedback and concerns you have about Lightfall and recent Seasons, as well as your responses to the reveal of The Final Shape,” Bungie said. “We know we have lost a lot of your trust. Destiny needs to surprise and delight. We haven’t done this enough and that’s going to change.”
Earning back that trust, according to Bungie, begins and ends with the gameplay experience and what players expect the series to be after legendary expansions in the past.
“To us the path forward is clear: We need to make The Final Shape an unforgettable Destiny experience,” Bungie said. “We want to build something that will be regarded alongside the best games we’ve ever made–a fitting culmination that honors the journey we’ve been on together for the past ten years. Forsaken, The Witch Queen, and The Taken King–these are the standard bearers we aim to live up to.”
The blog post said the studio is “intensely focused on exceeding your expectations for The Final Shape” and that the live service game has “more than 650 dedicated teammates pouring all their energy and expertise into delivering this epic moment and its subsequent Episodes.”
In lieu of confirming or denying The Final Shape’s delay, Bungie said more will be learned “in the weeks ahead,” including what’s coming in the game’s next season toward the end of November.
“Afterwards, we’ll begin to unpack our team’s bigger, bolder, and brighter vision for The Final Shape, as well as the bridge we plan to build to take us all out of this Darkness and into the Light,” the developer said.
