What’s Behind the Bungie Layoffs?
The slew of layoffs throughout the video game industry has reached Bungie, the former developer of Halo. The studio is letting go of 220 employees, which is about 17% of its workforce, while 155 others are moving to Sony Interactive Entertainment, which owns Bungie. (Bungie used to be owned by Microsoft, which still holds the rights to Halo and has passed development duties to its in-house studio, 343 Industries.) Another 75 employees are being moved to a new studio Bungie is creating as part of PlayStation Studios to develop one of their “incubation projects,” described by CEO and Chairman Pete Parsons as “an action game set in a brand-new science-fantasy universe.” The reason given for the layoffs and shifting of employees is “rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions” so that Bungie can focus on the big franchise, Destiny, and their upcoming game, Marathon.
But could there be more to it? There’s no doubt that economic difficulties are a major factor, but some are suggesting that Bungie is using the layoffs as an opportunity to purge itself of some of its woke employees. That Park Place has a great rundown of the various activists who have been let go at Bungie, and while this is a drop in the bucket when 220 people are losing their jobs, it’s certainly food for thought. One such former Bungie employee is Robert Brookes, a senior narrative who said things on social media like “representation matters” and how he always felt that Saint-14 and Osiris, two Destiny characters, were gay and that he’s been writing them as gay since he’s been at Bungie, making it unambiguous to combat “queerbaiting” and to present representation. Another is Hazel Monforton, another senior narrative designer, who attacked people over refusing to boycott Hogwarts Legacy because J.K. Rowling doesn’t think men should play women’s sports or use women’s bathrooms. Kailani M, also a narrative designer, was let go as well; she supported and encouraged others to support Black Lives Matter in 2020 during the “summer of love.” Finally, there’s Max Nicholks, a senior activity designer, who called anyone who doesn’t like Sweet Baby Inc. “murderous white supremacists.”
Bungie laid off a SBI defender “Leftist Game Designer” who called all rational gamers “murderous white supremacists.”
As I said, the layoff have been prioritizing activists in many studios. Maybe Bungie is healing. pic.twitter.com/H3wPqLzRPP
— Grummz (@Grummz) August 1, 2024
I’m sure Mark Kern and Kabrutus were surprised to discover that they’re white supremacists, which must make them self-hating. In any event, the effect hiring people like this had on Bungie’s games is summed up by Mark Kern, and if you look at other companies – Marvel and Lucasfilm come to mind – it makes sense:
We can’t ignore that Bungie became incredibly political and woke over the years while the quality of their DLC started to slip dramatically.
DEI, which emphasizes checkbox hiring over merit, has profound impacts on a studio. When you start promoting and hiring activists, the…
— Grummz (@Grummz) July 31, 2024
However, as That Park Place points out, this isn’t the whole story; there are some super wokesters who have avoided the Bungie layoffs. Someone whose X username is Thiccest_Yosh is a narrative architect for the developer and has admonished people opposed to DEI in gaming, and he remains employed, and I’m sure he’s not alone. Moreover, Pete Parsons, Bungie’s CEO, is himself a fairly outspoken activist type:
Bungie CEO: The communist LGBT symbols, the audacity of promoting ‘Be Kind’ while firing 25% of the workforce—catering to the same type of people who will ultimately eat you alive. This is what happens when you prioritize sending a message over quality. It’s beautiful to watch pic.twitter.com/6okVhiK4qH
— LearningTheLaw (@Mangalawyer) July 31, 2024
He also sounds like a major asshole. Reports from some of the fired Bungie employees say that Parsons invited them to his house to look at his new cars two days before announcing the layoffs. No matter what you may think of these people, that’s unnecessarily cruel.
BUNGIE CEO Pete Parsons invited some of their employees to see his new cars TWO DAYS before laid them off. pic.twitter.com/e141ZR3K9s
— Pirat_Nation (@Pirat_Nation) July 31, 2024
An ex-employee of #Bungie who was laid off, calls on Bungie CEO Pete Parsons to step down, also says he is a liar and a thief, and claims this isn’t on #Sony but Bungie leadership.
Pete has also supposedly bought a whopping 24 vehicles from a single auction site, since the… pic.twitter.com/MefzRWgojR
— NIB (@nib95_) July 31, 2024
Still other terminated employees claim they found out they were being let go on social media instead of privately:
Some Bungie staff are only finding out about their layoff via X.
Likely remote staff. pic.twitter.com/B4UMSl0PXj
— Grummz (@Grummz) July 31, 2024
So, I don’t think this guy intentionally got rid of woke people. I think it seems like that at first glance because so many woke people work at Bungie and in the video game industry at large. It would be like a nail salon laying off employees and someone saying they’re mostly firing women; that’s who works there, so, of course, that’s who’s losing their jobs.
