Bungie Is Handling Their Workplace Environment Much More Differently Than Expected
Bungie, known for Destiny 2, has reportedly had its fair share of problems when it comes to a healthy work environment. This is, sadly, not a surprising development, as we’ve seen such problems arise with Ubisoft and with Activision Blizzard in the past year. But the difference between Bungie and the gaming giants is how it has started to change.
Before, Bungie had a problem with a toxic workplace environment. And that’s putting it lightly. There’s an extensive list on IGN where they cover everything in deeper depth, but here’s a quick summary of some of the things that have occurred in the past years. Apparently, employees had to deal with everything from an explosive team lead who once threw a chair through a window, to female employees who had their male counterparts take credit for their work, work hours that went anywhere from 80 to 100 hours to women and people from minorities leaving the studio for being unable to get the much-needed help from Human Resources. In fact, people from HR actively spoke behind people’s backs about how employees dressed, with one of the women called a “slut”.
It’s a lot to take in, and it’s very upsetting. But, there’s an upside to all of this.
From 2018-2020, there have been workplace changes within Bungie. Toxic leads have been snipped from the company itself, and there have been support groups created for women, queer, and minority employees within the company. And, too, Bungie has created a different, new seasonal/expansion model to make work easier for the narrative team.
This is a great start for Bungie, and there have been obvious results that have come from supporting their employees. Destiny 2 has flourished because of this care dedicated to its employees. But that’s just it. This is a start, not the end. While many gaming companies can learn from this model, rather than trying to suppress the voice of their employees, Bungie can still do more.
And should they do so, there may be nothing that can stop Bungie from not only making the games they want but they will have their pick of the best in the video game industry.