• Bungie CEO Pete Parsons reportedly told employees it had “kept the right people” after employees were laid off this week.
• The firing of employees came amid ailing sentiment of its flagship game Destiny 2 and 45 percent shortfall in revenue projections.
• The CEO reportedly rallied his employees to buckle down and weather a storm before firing as many as 100 of them per reports.

Following reports that some Bungie employees were laid off this week, more information has come to light that paints the Destiny 2 developer in a terrible light.

Per an IGN report, Bungie chief executive officer Pete Parsons told remaining staff during a town hall meeting that the company had “kept the right people”. That’s a slap in the face to the employees who had poured their heart and soul into the game, some who had been there for a few years.

It’s reported that as many as 100 employees, representing 8 percent of all staff, lost their positions this week with Parsons stating that the layoffs came amid the poor performance of Destiny 2. The firing of employees was also stoked by lower-than-expected preorders for Destiny 2’s final expansion The Final Shape. To put this into perspective, Bloomberg reports that Bungie expects to fall short of its revenue projections by as much as 45 percent.

Bungie employees reportedly begged management to make changes to the game in order to retain players. Instead of listening and addressing the reasons players weren’t as passionate about the game anymore, it appears Bungie opted to let people go instead.

Following the news of the layoffs, there was speculation that they were executed under the order of Sony but it appears as if Bungie is taking ownership of the firings, making Parsons’ statement on Monday all the more distasteful.

The layoffs don’t only stretch to the Destiny 2 team as reportedly some of the firings affect the team working on Marathon as well.

The CEO also reportedly told staff Bungie would be cutting costs for travel, implementing salary and hiring freezes and as such, employees would need to band together to weather the storm.

Rallying the troops only to then fire them because management refused to listen to the suggestions made by employees is frankly bizarre and Destiny 2 players tend to agree with that opinion.

Player sentiment has been on a steady decline since Lightfall was released and received a weak reception. Beyond existing players, Destiny is incredibly abrasive when it comes to welcoming new players. For example, simply buying the game is a confusing mess with multiple DLC packs, many containing the same content others do and without guidance, newcomers could end up spending more than they intended to.

Unfortunately, Destiny 2 is a game that lives on player sentiment, and this recent spate of firings, coupled with a now-confirmed delay of both The Final Shape and Marathon are likely to do little to improve that.

Employees who were fired will receive three months of severance and three months of COBRA health insurance paid by Bungie. Other benefits included ended on Monday.