Bungie CEO Pete Parsons steps down, following years of criticism, layoffs, and that infamous classic car collection

Bungie CEO Pete Parsons has stepped down from his position after over two decades at the studio.

Parsons has been much-criticised by fans and employees alike in recent years, in particular following multiple rounds of layoffs at the studio. In a public statement, Parsons said he’s “decided to pass the torch” – an ironic use of words when Bungie has seemingly been up in flames.

Parsons will be succeeded as CEO by Justin Truman, who’s spent 15 years at Bungie across both Destiny games and, more recently, forthcoming live-service shooter Marathon.

“I am deeply proud of the worlds we’ve built together and the millions of players who call them home – and most of all I am privileged by the opportunity to work alongside the incredible minds at Bungie,” wrote Parsons in his statement.

“When I was asked to lead Bungie in 2015, my goal was to grow us into a studio capable of creating and sustaining iconic, generation-spanning entertainment. We’ve been through so much together: we launched a bold new chapter for Destiny, built an enviable, independent live-ops organisation capable of creating and publishing its own games, and joined the incredible family at Sony Interactive Entertainment.”

Parsons also leaves hundreds of layoffs and negative player sentiment in his wake, not to mention an infamous penchant for classic cars.

Even before Bungie’s acquisition by Sony, reports emerged in 2021 of workplace toxicity and “overt sexism” at the studio, for which Parsons apologised. “I am not here to refute or to challenge the experiences we’re seeing shared today by people who have graced our studio with their time and talent,” he said at the time. “Our actions or, in some cases, inactions, caused these people pain. I apologise personally and on behalf of everyone at Bungie who I know feels a deep sense of empathy and sadness reading through these accounts.”

Then in February 2022, Sony acquired Bungie for $3.6bn, ostensibly to assist with its live-service ambitions. Though the acquisition was met with criticism by some – the FTC, for instance, opened an investigation – others were more positive.

In 2024, for instance, Bungie’s former chief in-house lawyer Don McGowan said Sony was “inflicting some discipline” on the studio to “run the game like a business”. “To be clear: I’m not talking about the layoffs, I’m talking about forcing them to get their heads out of their asses and focus on things like: implementing a method of new player acquisition; not just doing fan service for the fans in the Bungie C-suite; and running the game like a business,” said McGowan.

However, a year after the acquisition, Bungie laid off 100 employees – approximately eight percent of its 1200-strong workforce – after management warned staff revenue for the year was significantly below expectations. Many employees were left anxious about the future of the company, amid claims senior management met employees’ sadness at the layoffs with “indifference or even outright flippancy or hostility”.

Parsons followed the news with a statement on social media, calling it a “sad day at Bungie”. The statement was heavily criticised as tone deaf and a “slap in the face to anyone impacted by the layoffs”.

A year later, Bungie laid off a further 220 staff, representing roughly 17 percent of the studio’s workforce. Between both rounds, Bungie laid off around a quarter of its workforce in nine months, with the company reportedly overstating its financial prospects to Sony.

Current and former Bungie employees called that second round of layoffs “inexcusable”, amid calls for Parsons to resign. “Pete is a joke,” said former global social media lead Griffin Bennet (who was laid off in the previous cuts), while former Destiny 2 community manager Liana Ruppert wrote, “Step down, Pete.”

Parsons also faced criticism from staff for spending millions of dollars on classic cars since the studio was acquired by Sony, and bragging about his lavish collection ahead of job losses. The CEO’s public profile on Bring a Trailer revealed he’d appeared to spend $2,414,550 on vehicles.

Fans shared a similar sentiment against Parsons. Noted Destiny content creator MyNameIsByf (AKA Lore Daddy) posted on X: “Leadership needs to be changed. Their decisions have consistently led to disaster for everyone who has actually been making the games we play. They’ve been reckless with the studio, its employees, and its franchises. The problem is clear. Bad leadership. It needs to change.”

Now, Parsons is out, leaving Truman in charge. “I have worked alongside Justin for many years,” he wrote. “His passion for our games, our team, and our players is unmatched.”

Truman himself added to the statement with refreshing honesty, admitting previous mistakes made during Destiny 2’s launch. “I’ve also been part of these efforts at Bungie when we’ve maybe not been at our best,” he wrote. “When we’ve stumbled and realised through listening to our community that we had missed the mark. I know I’ve personally learned a lot over the years, as have all of us here, from those conversations.”

He continued: “I am committed to supporting and working alongside every member of the team here as we continue pouring our hearts and souls into these worlds. Worlds that we love, and that we hope have been worth your time and your passion. Because ultimately those worlds only exist, and thrive, with you in them.”

Bungie continues to work on Destiny 2, while its next release will be Marathon. While Marathon gameplay was finally shown back in April, in June Bungie delayed the game indefinitely in response to “passionate” fan feedback. Ahead of the decision, Bungie staff morale was said to be in “free fall” as it grappled with the fallout over Marathon assets stolen from other artists.

While such endemic toxicity and poor management cannot, of course, be pinpointed to one person, Bungie is clearly at a critical point in its history. Let’s hope this shift in CEO will boost morale at the studio ahead of Marathon’s eventual release – and whatever is next for Bungie.