Bungie lays off at least 292 people as Destiny 2 ends and Sony restructures the studio

Bungie has confirmed a major round of layoffs following the sunset of Destiny 2 earlier this month. A Washington state WARN filing puts the number at a minimum of 292 people, with separation dates set for July 9. PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst informed staff directly, confirming that most of the remaining Destiny 2 team and some Marathon developers are among those cut, along with certain Sony Interactive Entertainment staff who supported Bungie's operations.

Hulst's statement said the decision came after months of review covering "long-term direction, development priorities, resource needs, and role within our broader portfolio strategy," and that multiple alternatives were explored before the cuts were deemed necessary. Bungie's own announcement acknowledged the studio "could not continue operating at our previous size" and described future projects beyond Marathon as "still in early incubation." Studio head Justin Truman has also stepped down, according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier — Truman had been at Bungie since 2010 and took the top role last year after longtime CEO Pete Parsons departed. The entire cinematics department was wiped out, with now-former cinematics director John Ebenger posting on Bluesky that the whole cinematic org was included in the cuts.

The scale of the damage is stark. Bungie's headcount was already down to an estimated 800 from a pandemic-era peak of around 1,300 — itself a result of earlier layoff rounds. Losing another 292 or more drops the studio to roughly 500 or fewer, just over a third of what it was when Sony acquired it for $3.6 billion. That acquisition was supposed to give Bungie the resources to build a multi-franchise live-service powerhouse; instead, Destiny 2 has ended, Marathon is the sole active game, and the studio is a fraction of its former size. The timing — days after Destiny 2's final update went live — makes the transition feel especially brutal for the community that spent years with that game.

Marathon still has new content planned through at least the end of 2026, so the extraction shooter remains Bungie's public-facing priority for now. But with the Destiny team largely gone and new projects years away from any announcement, the studio that made Halo and defined the modern live-service shooter is entering a very different chapter. Reactions across social media and LinkedIn have been a flood of farewell posts from affected developers navigating what multiple sources describe as one of the toughest job markets the games industry has seen.