After nearly two decades at Bungie, CEO Pete Parsons has announced his departure from the company. Parsons has been with the studio since its Halo days and oversaw the transition into Destiny and beyond. His resignation comes after a challenging year for Bungie, marked by Destiny 2's decline in quality and the lukewarm reception of Marathon, which some beta testers compared to Sony's flop Concord. On Bungie's official site, Parsons shared a farewell note:
"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. Today marks the right time for a new beginning. The future of Bungie will be in the hands of a new generation of leaders, and I am thrilled to announce that Justin Truman will be stepping into leadership as Bungie's new studio head."
Truman, who has been closely tied to Destiny since its earliest days, also reflected on his new role:
"As an engineer, I wrote some code I'm really proud of for our original weapon, abilities, and networking in Destiny 1. As a designer, I helped craft many of our Destiny 2 systems (including some I got terribly wrong at launch). As a producer, I helped our team roll out Destiny's first Seasons. More recently, I've been working on Bungie's talent strategy as Chief Development Officer, and supporting the Marathon team as we build our next world."
He emphasized Bungie's mission:
"Across all of these roles, Bungie's purpose has stayed clear: We create worlds that inspire friendship. When we're at our best, we build those worlds alongside our players and deliver something that matters. I've also seen when we've missed the mark and learned from our community. I'm committed to working with every member of this team as we keep pouring our hearts and souls into these worlds—because ultimately, they only thrive with you in them."
With Truman now stepping up as Bungie's studio head, the company enters a new era—one where it must regain the trust of its community while navigating the uncertain future of Destiny and the fate of Marathon.