There's a few things going on, here
- A lot of leaders are using layoffs as a flex on workers that got raises post-2020. There's a lot of "they need to know their place" language in boardrooms, and not just in this industry.
- I'm assuming this gets them out of paying company-performance-based bonuses, as well as PTO and leave for people who were looking forward to a post-crunch break.
- AI. Executives, especially in creative fields, are salivating over the kinds of headcount reductions AI can provide.
- There are some relatively forward-thinking leaders who are looking at the economic landscape and figuring they need to conserve cash. Not say that's the case here, but it's a reason that some companies that aren't run by utter assholes are citing.
As someone who's been a Bungie fan since Pathways into Darkness (yeah, I'm that old) this makes me sad in a way that only the sale to Microsoft had managed.