Bungie CEO Pete Parsons Is Stepping Down, Will Be Replaced By Chief Development Officer Justin Truman

Parsons calls his time at Bungie “the honor of a lifetime,” saying thereafter that he is “deeply proud of the worlds we’ve built together and the millions of players who call them home—-and most of all I am privileged by the opportunity to work alongside the incredible minds at Bungie.” He goes on to note a few things that have happened since he was asked to lead Bungie in 2015, including “a new chapter of Destiny,” an independent live ops organization “capable of creating and publishing its own games,” and joining the Sony Interactive Entertainment umbrella.

He then goes on to praise his replacement, Justin Truman, who most recently was the General Manager for Destiny 2 and Bungie’s Chief Development Officer. Parsons considers Truman “instrumental in bringing some of the most memorable moments in Bungie’s history to life.” The new studio head himself shared a statement below Parsons’ farewell. It starts with a few of the things he’s done during his 15 years at Bungie as a developer, including writing code for weapons and abilities in Destiny 1 and crafting systems in Destiny 2, then dovetails into broader studio reflections. 

Truman is evidently proud of Bungie’s ability to build worlds, saying that when the studio is at its best it creates “something that’s worth your time, your passion, and your investment in us,” but also briefly acknowledges the studio’s stumbles (notably, avoiding specifics) by saying “I’ve also been part of these efforts at Bungie when we’ve maybe not been at our best. When we’ve stumbled and realized through listening to our community that we had missed the mark. I know I’ve personally learned a lot over the years, as have all of us here, from those conversations.” He ends stating his commitment to supporting the Bungie team and that everyone is working hard on Marathon and Destiny. 

For anyone who’s been keeping up with Bungie over the last few years, a leadership shake-up might’ve been predictable. For better or worse, it’s a move that frequently happens at struggling studios, seen as recently as this week with the studio working on the next Bioshock game Cloud Chamber, and it’s not a stretch to say Bungie is struggling. The studio’s upcoming game Marathon was delayed past its original September release following poor reception from the game’s official reveal and Alpha playtest, in addition to the studio confirming a month prior that Marathon included an external artist’s work without consent. Additionally, the studio has not been safe from the layoffs plaguing game devs as it saw over 200 workers cut from the team in 2024. Given all this, only time will tell if Truman can right the ship of one of gaming’s most acclaimed studios.