Two Bungie executives, Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy, were involved in the latest round of layoffs, according to a new report. Jeff Grubb confirmed on his Game Mess Decides podcast that the pair are working on a new game, Payback, set in the Destiny universe, but due to the massive scale of the PlayStation-owned studio now Being laid off due to downsizing.
“[Smith and Noseworthy] Be labeled as committed to giving back. This will be the next big thing for Destiny, but it won’t be Destiny 3,” Grubb said. “Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy are no longer at Bungie. They were released. They were caught up in the executive and leadership shakeup mentioned in the blog post. Returns have been put on hold.
[Update] Sources say Smith and Nosworthy’s departures come as the Payback project is being shut down, following a senior executive shakeup that means they have no path forward at Bungie.
Smith, who previously served as Bungie’s executive director and became the studio’s celebrated public-facing face, brought Destiny 2’s narrative back to a place that excites fans and more clearly established a long-term vision for the sci-fi shooter. s story. Concurrently, Noseworthy serves as Vice President of the Destiny Universe, responsible for overall strategy for Destiny intellectual property and business.
GameSpot has reached out to Bungie for a statement.
On July 31, Bungie executive Pete Parsons confirmed that the company was laying off about 220 people from multiple departments. This number represents 17% of its total workforce. According to reports, 150 employees at Sony Interactive Entertainment have been transferred.
Parsons said: “Due to rising development costs, industry transformation, and ongoing economic conditions, it became clear that we needed to make significant changes to our cost structure and focus our development efforts entirely on Destiny and Marathon.” He also said, Layoffs have been made “at all levels” at Bungie, with “most” senior executive or senior leadership positions at Bungie affected.
As part of the layoff announcement, it was also confirmed that Bungie is working on a brand new game, but it won’t be Destiny 3 or Vengeance. Instead, the new sci-fi project will be developed at a new in-house studio set up within PlayStation.
The layoffs come after the release of the Destiny 2 expansion pack Final Form, which was warmly received by fans. While Destiny 2 remains one of the most popular games-as-a-service titles on the market, Bungie’s massive layoffs have left players questioning what’s in store for future content. According to Grubb, the large expansion packs that Bungie has traditionally released are unlikely to return, and players will instead be given smaller content packs.
Bungie is also developing a new Marathon, which will return as an escape shooter.
