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Jeff Grubb: Hermen Hulst is now the man running Bungie, dev will lose it's autonomy

phant0m

Member
Does Jones even work there anymore? I know he's long been on the creative side rather than business but was still pretty head honcho in leading the studio
 

sloppyjoe_gamer

Gold Member
Destiny 3 main character

HVcwf6R.png
 

nial

Member
This is reductionist. It’s not as simple as an org chart

This is what is going to happen down the line, but nothing suggests that it's being the case now.
What's more likely is that Jeff Grubb was aware that they're now reporting to Hulst, and it's enough for him to gain some internet clout.
Ugh, he's gonna put more masculine white women in their games isn't he.

I... Think I'm out 😂
Destiny 3 main character

HVcwf6R.png
Never forget that Stellar Blade was produced under his supervision.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
This is what is going to happen down the line, but nothing suggests that it's being the case now.
What's more likely is that Jeff Grubb was aware that they're now reporting to Hulst, and it's enough for him to gain some internet clout.
No, what Jeff Grubb said was totally clear.

If you read the article I posted, Bungie was an independent subsidiary. Which meant that Hulst was connected to them in a dotted line in the org chart but they had independence. By saying Hulst is running Bungie, he is saying that they are not independent anymore. Now, maybe Jeff is wrong, or lying, but what he is saying is implying that Bungie is in a different situation than what they were in before. And if Final Shape bombed, and it might have, that makes sense.
 
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Bernardougf

Member
This is what is going to happen down the line, but nothing suggests that it's being the case now.
What's more likely is that Jeff Grubb was aware that they're now reporting to Hulst, and it's enough for him to gain some internet clout.


Never forget that Stellar Blade was produced under his supervision.
It is a second party asian developed game .. I dont think the western branch crazies had much saying in the development choices in a studio they dont own, even more after the good reception of the trailers. I might be wrong though.
 
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Why the fuck did they even sell themselves to Sony?
If they weren't with Sony even more people would've been fired.
Some comments on this topic are weird.

If this Sony takeover is happening it's literally because Bungie themselves fucked up and keep missing their targets. It's all due to bad management (as even people that have worked there are mentioning on X)

People aren't getting fired BECAUSE of the acquisition.
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
If they weren't with Sony even more people would've been fired.
Some comments on this topic are weird.

If this Sony takeover is happening it's literally because Bungie themselves fucked up and keep missing their targets. It's all due to bad management (as even people that have worked there are mentioning on X)

People aren't getting fired BECAUSE of the acquisition.
Yeah, I think Bungie management is legendarily bad at the very top levels. Just this whole new studio thing is kind of hilarious. It's basically saying that some small group within Bungie has a cool idea for an action game. Best to make a whole new studio and get them out of there so it doesn't get fucked up.
 

nial

Member
It is a second party asian developed game .. I dont think the western branch crazies had much saying in the development choices in a studio they dont own, even more after the good reception of the trailers. I might be wrong though.
Huh, yes.
Hermen Hulst oversees EVERY PlayStation Studios game, internally or externally developed, worldwide.
"western branch crazies"? Lol, Hermen Hulst is literally CEO of the Japanese SIE company, along with Hideaki Nishino.
 
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James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
It was likely either a 2 year times deal (2 year anniversary was the 15th of July), or based on profitability that allowed Sony to fully take over.

I believe it was based on profitability

Hence, the layoffs (higher profit)

And also hence the Sony power play to take direct oversight over a certain portion of the studio (didn’t meet profit goals).

Not a full scale takeover, but one that still puts pressure on Bungie leadership
 

Saber

Member
I can only think this guy pushing more Horizon bullshit on them instead of actually making them better.
 
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James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
It's basically saying that some small group within Bungie has a cool idea for an action game. Best to make a whole new studio and get them out of there so it doesn't get fucked up.

Could also just be recognition that Bungie doesn’t have enough resources to manage the project, especially after laying off hundreds of people

Handling Destiny and Marathon itself is hard enough I’d imagine.

What’s strange is I guess this new studio will be in the same building as Bungie? And SIE employees relocating
 
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IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Why wouldn't they report to Hermen Hulst? He's only the CEO of SIE...
They have it had their own board of directors and company charter separate from SIE.

Sony had nobody on the board.

From what we are hearing, the board is likely now dissolved, and Sony is in full control.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I believe it was based on profitability

Hence, the layoffs (higher profit)

And also hence the Sony power play to take direct oversight over a certain portion of the studio (didn’t meet profit goals).

Not a full scale takeover, but one that still puts pressure on Bungie leadership
I think it’s full control, unless all they did was put some Sony folks on their board of directors.

That’d he the only way to do partial “control.” But according to Grubb if the CEO is taking over, then the board of directors is likely dissolved.

Doesn’t mean like any studio that Bungie leadership can’t or won’t make decisions, it means SIE xan come in and override any decision.

They couldn’t do that before
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
I think it’s full control, unless all they did was put some Sony folks on their board of directors.

That’d he the only way to do partial “control.” But according to Grubb if the CEO is taking over, then the board of directors is likely dissolved.

Doesn’t mean like any studio that Bungie leadership can’t or won’t make decisions, it means SIE xan come in and override any decision.

They couldn’t do that before

What I mean by partial control is Bungie being forced to hand over teams to SIE for the new project

But the Destiny and Marathon teams are still managed by Bungie leadership
 
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Astray

Member
Interesting that this happens within 2 months of Hermen being announced as Co-CEO, which in itself happened shortly after Totoki basically berated Bungie in public too.

This feels like a situation that's been brewing for a while now, and I don't think the ugliness is done either.
 

Nydius

Member
Hermen Hulst RUINING Bungie.

I hope this is sarcasm. Bungie has ruined themselves. Their “leadership” has been a complete mess for damn near a decade. Everyone was quick to blame Activision for the state of Destiny but we quickly learned after Bungie went independent that the problem was within Bungie, not Activision.

They completely foundered as an independent studio to the point where they NEEDED someone to step in and keep them afloat. Yet their leaders continued to mismanage the studio into the ground.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
What I mean by partial control is Bungie being forced to hand over teams to SIE for the new project

But the Destiny and Marathon teams are still managed by Bungie leadership
Totally get what you are saying. That’s the same thing I was saying above, just don’t think the word “control” descries those leaders new scenario.

But managing something isn’t the same as controlling it. Being a leader is different than being part of an independent board of directors.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
If Bungie wasnt fucked, they are now
Bungie fucked up Destiny 1 by rebooting the entire game a month before the original release date, pushing the final release date a year out.

Then they did pretty much the same again with Destiny 2, when they rebooted the entire development a year before D2 released.
Then there's all the fuck ups with D2, where they even managed to take away half the game from the consumers.

Bungie can only go up with this move.
 
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clarky

Gold Member
Bungie fucked up Destiny 1 by rebooting the entire game a month before the original release date, pushing the final release date a year out.

Then they did pretty much the same again with Destiny 2, when they rebooted the entire development a year before D2 released.
Then there's all the fuck ups with D2, where they even managed to tske away half the game from the consumers.

Bungie can only go up with this move.
I think the same thing happened with Halo CE and 2 as well. But they turned out top tier.

IMO the only way is down, without any of the OG staff running the show, its just another studio.
 

Loomy

Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Why the fuck did they even sell themselves to Sony?
There are doubts that Bungie would still exist today if they hadn't sold to someone.

These problems didn't start after Sony acquired them. Read the actual post. They spread themselves way too thin. This had been evident with quality issues in Destiny 2 for a while now, but we had no idea it was because they were working on 2 new games until Marathon and this other game were revealed.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
I think the same thing happened with Halo CE and 2 as well. But they turned out top tier.

IMO the only way is down, without any of the OG staff running the show, its just another studio.
Dunno, they are capable enough, leadership is just trash. I think what they need is for Sony to give them a clear direction for their projects. That seems to be the biggest issue with Bungie.

And no idea about Bungie pre-Destiny, so can't comment on that.
 

SHA

Member
You could think like Killzone and play like Spartan and there's nothing wrong with that, it's actually the Halo we ever dreamed to happen.
 

Loomy

Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Dunno, they are capable enough, leadership is just trash. I think what they need is for Sony to give them a clear direction for their projects. That seems to be the biggest issue with Bungie.

And no idea about Bungie pre-Destiny, so can't comment on that.
Yeah, that's the thing. They're top tier when it comes to technical and creative output. They were clearly overstretched. We've known that since D2 launched. We just didn't know why at the time.
 
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