Bungie Creative Team Joins PlayStation To Boost Live Service Games

It hasn’t been the best year for PlayStation and Sony. With the cancellation of The Last of Us multiplayer project and pulling Concord from shelves shortly after release, Sony’s year into live service games has faced challenges but with news coming out that the Bungie creative team has joined PlayStations Studios, hopefully, this will bolster Sony’s efforts in live service gaming

Bridget O’Neill, former Senior Director of Bungie Creative Studios, shared the news on LinkedIn, marking the shift as a significant milestone in their collaboration with Sony.

“Today was my team’s last day at Bungie, but not our last day working on Destiny (and Marathon)!

Bungie Creative Studios is joining PlayStation Studios to build the foundation for a creative team that can support all PlayStation live service games. As part of this move, I am taking on a new role as Senior Director of Creative at PlayStation Studios. “

This move follows Bungie’s earlier announcement in July, when it revealed a 17% staff reduction, impacting 220 employees. Despite this, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons highlighted their efforts to integrate 155 roles—about 12% of the workforce—into Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) over the coming months.

“SIE has been working closely with us to ensure as many employees as possible could transition into new roles, saving a lot of talent that might have been affected by the layoffs. We’re also partnering with PlayStation Studios to spin off one of our incubation projects, a new action game set in a science-fantasy universe, which will form a new studio under PlayStation Studios.”

While 2024 hasn’t been the smoothest year for Sony’s foray into live service games, the integration of Bungie’s creative team into PlayStation Studios brings a spark of optimism. With their expertise, particularly in Destiny and the upcoming Marathon, Sony now has a stronger foundation to support its ambitions. As both companies navigate their challenges, this collaboration could prove vital in turning the tide and solidifying PlayStation’s position in the live service arena. Only time will tell if this move leads to the success Sony has been striving for.