Though it's now almost over, 2021 has been a tumultuous year for the games industry, especially given the ongoing Activision Blizzard controversy. The legal and social turmoil that the company has found itself in has drawn scrutiny to other companies, such as Ubisoft and Bungie. While it's not difficult to be doing better than Activision Blizzard at the moment, Bungie has recently apologized for the pain caused by its toxic past.
Bungie was founded over 30 years ago, making it one of the oldest active studios in the industry. This has given Bungie years to build up its legacy as a developer, but it also gave rise to a toxic workplace culture similar to the one found in former long-time collaborator Activision Blizzard. However, unlike Activision Blizzard, Bungie appears to have caught the problem early and is in the process of correcting its course.
According to a recent message from Bungie CEO Pete Parsons, the company has been working to address concerns about sexism, racism, transphobia, and other forms of workplace toxicity for the last several years. Pete Parsons stated that the company has recently moved to remove bad actors regardless of "tenure, seniority, or interpersonal relationships," meaning that even celebrated industry personnel can be punished for their actions. He also declared that while Bungie currently believes the bad actors responsible for serious transgressions have been removed from the company, any new information that comes to light will be thoroughly investigated.
Pete Parsons also stated that Bungie is working to maintain more realistic demands of its workforce, which led to the delay of Destiny 2's The Witch Queen. Apparently, the wait was necessary to prioritize the health of the team working on it while still delivering the quality and polish expected of a Bungie title. Beyond that, Bungie has reportedly dedicated itself to greater inclusion, diversity, and equity, beginning with the reformation of the Bungie Diversity Committee. The company has also created several new employee-led inclusion clubs and is hiring dedicated and highly respected leaders to help promote these values.
Furthermore, Bungie has taken a lesson from the chaos of 2021 and begun to conduct reviews of its hiring, compensation, and promotion practices, which includes a compensation audit by a third party to catch potential inequities. While Activision Blizzard is trying to bust unions, Bungie is redesigning its people systems to address built-in inequities and discrimination. In his message, Pete Parsons makes it clear that the journey is far from over and Bungie is still very sorry for the pain its past actions, and inaction, have caused, but the company seems to be off to a good start.
Source: Bungie