The wave of layoffs affecting Bungie employees had many fans of the studio behind the original Halo games and the Destiny franchise reeling, but newly reported information has them downright disgusted.
Per a report from Forbes game writer Paul Tassi, who has extensively covered Destiny among other titles for several years, there are even worse details surrounding the layoffs.
According to Tassi, several employee benefits (excluding health insurance) only last until the end of the month when the employee was let go. Given the layoffs occurred on Oct. 30, that would leave the laid-off employees with just a single day of coverage post-termination.
In addition, Tassi reported many of these employees had unvested shares in Sony. Unvested shares are shares in the company set aside for employees until they meet certain conditions, such as the amount of time employed in this case. However, Tassi stated those shares “revert” to Bungie when an employee leaves, even if they are fired.
Some of Destiny’s most well-known players and biggest supporters appear to be outright appalled by the actions of Bungie over the past few days. Twitch streamer and long-time player ProfessorBroman replied to the Tassi tweet, calling Bungie’s actions “pretty gross,” while Kinda Funny Games host Parris Lilly called the reported details “a big ole WTF!”
Accounts on Twitter that have extensively and solely covered Destiny 2 are now turning against the once-beloved developer. Destiny Bulletin tweeted after the Tassi report that “Bungie was the real Destiny killer all along.” Another account in Destiny Tracker wrote: “So much anger, questions, and concerns. No official press release from Bungie. Just a cold out of touch tweet from an executive,” which is in reference to a statement from Bungie CEO Pete Parsons that was highly panned by members of the community.
Following his first report, Tassi provided a follow-up in which he speculated the Bungie layoffs could be part of a “wider cost-cutting at Sony in multiple areas,” but noted Bungie would be the final decider on who gets let go and how that’s done.
Bungie has not yet responded to Dot Esports for comment.
