In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced many developers to work from home, companies have been slowly pushing their workers to return to the office. However, Bungie is taking a different approach.Bungie, known for the first-person shooter MMO Destiny, announced on Twitter that the company is going “digital-first,” and that “most current and future roles will be fully remote” across a range of US states. Bungie released a small documentary back in 2020, showing how it had transitioned through the initial wave of the pandemic following a density of COVID-19 cases in and around the greater Seattle area.It would appear that Bungie’s groundwork during the pandemic has allowed the company to move in an opposite direction to its rivals despite the COVID-19 global outbreak causing console shortages, game delays, and unpolished releases. Bungie clearly believes that allowing workers to continue to work from home is actually proving to be beneficial to the company. So far Bungie has confirmed that its home state of Washington will be one of the selected states that will be trying the new plans along with California, Oregon, Illinois, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. Bungie has posted many job vacancies on its career website, many of which are already approved for remote working in those seven states.
The move by Bungie, who also created the original Halo trilogy, is an interesting decision as video game development at a major studio is typically a collaborative undertaking that requires writers, artists, designers, testers, and a plethora of other staff, all working together and in constant communication to achieve the shared goal of creating a game.
Then there is the technical side, company offices, and headquarters house specialized facilities and equipment required for sound recording, motion capture, and visual effects. Certain things can only be achieved utilizing this equipment, so it’s unlikely the same results can be achieved while working from home.
It's well documented that games developed during the pandemic were hit with delays such as Gran Turismo 7, Battlefield 2042, and Rainbow Six Extraction due to the restrictions of devs working from home. Some released games often felt undercooked and have required multiple updates and fixes since release to bring them up to spec. Whether Bungie has found a way around these problems remains to be seen. Sony Interactive Entertainment purchased Bungie for around $3.6 billion back in January. Sony has not made any comment at this time on whether any of their other subsidiary studios will adopt a similar remote working structure.