Laid-off Destiny 2 dev’s “amazing” idea proves no one was safe

Destiny 2 players have lamented the loss of Bungie employees after one shared their experiences working on The Final Shape.

On July 31, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons released a statement confirming that the studio would eliminate 220 jobs.

Former senior narrative designer, Robert Brookes, shared one development story they were particularly proud of during production of what could potentially be Destiny 2’s last-ever major expansion.

In their post on X/Twitter, Brookes said: “Back in the early design on the TFS Lost Sectors, activity designer and certified mad lad Sang Kim pitched me an idea: ‘I’m gonna put a friendly Wizard in here fighting the Taken. Does that work?'”

Referring to Luzaku, a friendly Lucent Hive Wizard who helps the player’s Guardian secure a hostile Taken den during The Final Shape‘s campaign, Brookes continued: “I immediately realized this could be a Mithrax moment. I talked to Sang, got the Wizard changed to a Lucent Hive Wizard, and started to ideate more on it.”

Detailing how the spontaneous idea almost didn’t materialize due to budgets already being finalized, Brookes revealed that Mara Sov voice actor, Kirstin Potter, was brought in to voice the character, “thrilled to take on a new role.”

Brookes’ anecdote was subsequently shared on Reddit, where users lamented the loss of his talent.

“This just makes me so angry that he was laid off, it’s like a dev went above and beyond to make something fans love, and what was his reward by management?” came one response.

“This is amazing. It’s also frustrating both of these individuals were let go. They did more than was needed, over-delivered, and made something everyone loved.” said another.

How these layoffs will affect the future of Destiny 2 remains to be seen, though subsequent reports have suggested that content could be smaller in scale going forward.