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Despite Bungie's public stances against crunch and toxic studio cultures, the Destiny developer has tolerated both in recent years, according to an IGN report.
The outlet spoke with 26 current and former Bungie employees, some of whom described experiences of sexism, racism, abusive bosses, and systemic discrimination at the company.
Bungie's narrative team was singled out as particularly problematic in recent years, with stories of gendered slurs, homophobic and racist jokes, and abusive behavior from a group of white male senior leaders with a more diverse team of women and marginalized writers underneath them. In instances where people complained, they were told the senior person was just joking, that they needed thicker skins, or they were berated and yelled at.
The narrative team also worked up to 100-hour weeks during crunch periods, with requests for additional staff to handle the workload over years repeatedly denied.
IGN's report goes on to report issues both within the narrative team and in the studio at large with sexual remarks and unwanted hugs, deliberate misgendering of a trans employee, women and marginalized employees being denied promotions for specious reasons -- one writer "wasn't good enough at the game" -- nepotism leading to long-standing (frequently white and male) employees getting preferred assignments while marginalized developers were given assignments with a lower chance of success.
An internal diversity committed with white company leaders and more diverse employees was formed in 2015. Multiple sources told IGN those white leaders consistently resisted changes suggested by the others. Enough of the diverse employees quit the committee that Bungie shut it down in 2018.
Various employees portrayed the studio as unaccommodating and inconsiderate with its treatment of employees with special needs or in difficult situations. One had stress-related issues requiring surgery. Others were depressed from their experience at the studio, and sought therapy, started drinking more, or contemplated suicide.
Bungie's CEO, Parsons apologized to his employees in a comment to IGN.
"I am not here to refute or to challenge the experiences being shared by people who have graced our studio with their time and talent," he said.
"Our actions or, in some cases, inactions, caused these people pain. I apologize personally and on behalf of everyone at Bungie who I know feel a deep sense of empathy and sadness reading through these accounts."
Despite Bungie's public stances against crunch and toxic studio cultures, the Destiny developer has tolerated both in recent years, according to an IGN report.
The outlet spoke with 26 current and former Bungie employees, some of whom described experiences of sexism, racism, abusive bosses, and systemic discrimination at the company.
Bungie's narrative team was singled out as particularly problematic in recent years, with stories of gendered slurs, homophobic and racist jokes, and abusive behavior from a group of white male senior leaders with a more diverse team of women and marginalized writers underneath them. In instances where people complained, they were told the senior person was just joking, that they needed thicker skins, or they were berated and yelled at.
The narrative team also worked up to 100-hour weeks during crunch periods, with requests for additional staff to handle the workload over years repeatedly denied.
IGN's report goes on to report issues both within the narrative team and in the studio at large with sexual remarks and unwanted hugs, deliberate misgendering of a trans employee, women and marginalized employees being denied promotions for specious reasons -- one writer "wasn't good enough at the game" -- nepotism leading to long-standing (frequently white and male) employees getting preferred assignments while marginalized developers were given assignments with a lower chance of success.
An internal diversity committed with white company leaders and more diverse employees was formed in 2015. Multiple sources told IGN those white leaders consistently resisted changes suggested by the others. Enough of the diverse employees quit the committee that Bungie shut it down in 2018.
Various employees portrayed the studio as unaccommodating and inconsiderate with its treatment of employees with special needs or in difficult situations. One had stress-related issues requiring surgery. Others were depressed from their experience at the studio, and sought therapy, started drinking more, or contemplated suicide.
Bungie's CEO, Parsons apologized to his employees in a comment to IGN.
"I am not here to refute or to challenge the experiences being shared by people who have graced our studio with their time and talent," he said.
"Our actions or, in some cases, inactions, caused these people pain. I apologize personally and on behalf of everyone at Bungie who I know feel a deep sense of empathy and sadness reading through these accounts."
