Destiny 2 has reportedly suffered a “sharp drop” in popularity following the launch of Lightfall

The recent layoffs at Bungie were reportedly motivated, at least in part, by poor player retention numbers for Destiny 2 in the aftermath of the Lightfall expansion.

According to a report from Bloomberg, two weeks prior to the layoffs, Bungie management issued warnings to staff that the company wasn’t on track to meet its revenue projections for the year. CEO Pete Parsons reportedly cited a “sharp drop” in the popularity of Destiny 2 since the release of February's Lightfall expansion as one of the major reasons behind Bungie missing its financial targets.

While Bloomberg suggests that the game’s upcoming expansion, The Final Shape, has been getting some positive feedback, IGN reports Parsons told employees that preorder numbers for the DLC had been below expectations.

A delay to the expansion’s release date, which will see it pushed back from February to some point in June 2024, has been corroborated by both publications.

Some employees had reportedly been petitioning Bungie management to dedicate the resources necessary to enact changes which might help turn around the flagging enthusiasm of the game's player base in the months prior to the layoffs.

In the run up to the arrival of surprise 15 minute meetings in the calendars of affected staff on Monday, Parsons had reportedly told employees that Bungie would be enacting several cost-cutting measures, including freezes on hiring and existing salaries.

An estimated 100 employees ended up being let go across departments ranging from community management to audio, with Bloomberg reporting that the cuts amount to around “around 8%” of Bungie’s total workforce.

Those let go will receive a minimum of three months severance and COBRA health benefits, though some benefits, such as expense reimbursements, ended with immediate effect on Monday.

Bungie reportedly “took responsibility” for the cuts internally, rather than passing the buck to parent company Sony. That said, Bloomberg reports that these layoffs, alongside the rect cuts at Naughty Dog and Little Big Planet developer Media Molecule, are part of a “larger money-saving initiative” at PlayStation.