Bungie, the creator behind the Halo and Destiny franchises, has announced that CEO and Studio Head Pete Parsons is stepping away from the role and passing the leadership to a new face. Parsons has spent 23 years at Bungie and has overseen projects like Halo 2, 3, and Reach under Microsoft, as well as the two Destiny games later as the studio expanded its live-service efforts with other companies like Activision and Sony.
"After more than two decades of helping build this incredible studio, establishing the Bungie Foundation, and growing inspiring communities around our work, I have decided to pass the torch," said Parsons in a message to the community. "This journey has been the honor of a lifetime. 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."
He added that it was time to give Bungie"s reins to a new generation of leaders, with Justin Truman coming in to take up the Studio Head position. Truman has been at Bungie for 15 years, and prior to this latest change in roles, he held the Destiny 2 General Manager and Bungie Chief Development Officer positions at the Sony-owned studio.
"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," said the new Studio Head at Bungie
Justin Truman in the same post. "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."
The change in leadership arrives as Bungie goes through a tough period as it attempts to push out its newest project, Marathon. The live-service extraction shooter title had a less than ideal reveal earlier this year. While it was supposed to launch in September on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms, the title got hit by a plagiarism claim in May, which Bungie admitted to. Soon after, Marathon was delayed indefinitely, with no release date information coming out of either Bungie or Sony since then.
We will have to see whether the new leadership will be able to make the studio"s newest project get back on its feet as it also continues to support Destiny 2 content.