Bungie CEO Pete Parsons steps down

Bungie CEO Pete Parsons will step down from his role after more than two decades at the studio, he announced. Studio veteran and Destiny 2 general manager Justin Truman will succeed Parsons as the new studio head.

“Today marks the right time for a new beginning,” Parsons said in a message. “The future of Bungie will be in the hands of a new generation of leaders, and I am thrilled to announce that Justin Truman will be stepping into leadership as Bungie’s new Studio Head.

“I have worked alongside Justin for many years. His passion for our games, our team, and our players is unmatched. As a leader in engineering, production, and design—and most recently as the General Manager for Destiny 2 and our Chief Development Officer—he has been instrumental in bringing some of the most memorable moments in Bungie’s history to life. He lives and breathes this studio, and I have full confidence that he is the right person to lead Bungie forward.”

Truman added, “I am committed to supporting and working alongside every member of the team here as we continue pouring our hearts and souls into these worlds. Worlds that we love, and that we hope have been worth your time and your passion. Because ultimately those worlds only exist, and thrive, with you in them.

“We are hard at work right now doing that—both with Marathon and Destiny. We’re currently heads down, but we’ll have more to show you in both of these worlds later this year.”

Find the full message from Parsons and Truman below.

A Message from Pete Parsons

To the Bungie community,

After more than two decades of helping build this incredible studio, establishing the Bungie Foundation, and growing inspiring communities around our work, I have decided to pass the torch. This journey has been the honor of a lifetime. I am 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.

When I was asked to lead Bungie in 2015, my goal was to grow us into a studio capable of creating and sustaining iconic, generation-spanning entertainment. We’ve been through so much together: we launched a bold new chapter for Destiny, built an enviable, independent live ops organization capable of creating and publishing its own games, and joined the incredible family at Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Today marks the right time for a new beginning. The future of Bungie will be in the hands of a new generation of leaders, and I am thrilled to announce that Justin Truman will be stepping into leadership as Bungie’s new Studio Head.

I have worked alongside Justin for many years. His passion for our games, our team, and our players is unmatched. As a leader in engineering, production, and design—and most recently as the General Manager for Destiny 2 and our Chief Development Officer—he has been instrumental in bringing some of the most memorable moments in Bungie’s history to life. He lives and breathes this studio, and I have full confidence that he is the right person to lead Bungie forward.

Thank you for being the best, most passionate community in gaming. It has been a privilege to serve you. As for me, I’ll be second star to the right and straight on till morning.

A Message from Justin Truman

In the 15 years I’ve been a developer at Bungie, I’ve worn a lot of different hats.

As an engineer, I wrote some code I’m really proud of for our original weapon, abilities, and networking in Destiny 1. As a designer, I helped craft many of our Destiny 2 systems (including some of the endgame systems I got terribly wrong at Destiny 2 launch). As a producer, I helped our team build and roll out Destiny’s first Seasons. More recently, I’ve helped with our overall talent strategy as Chief Development Officer, and have been helping the Marathon team as we build our next world.

Across all of these different roles, Bungie’s purpose has stayed clear: “We create worlds that inspire friendship.”

When we’re at our best—we create those worlds alongside you, our player community, and build something that matters. Something that’s worth your time, your passion, and your investment in us. Something that I’ve learned, hopefully, overdelivers.

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.

I am committed to supporting and working alongside every member of the team here as we continue pouring our hearts and souls into these worlds. Worlds that we love, and that we hope have been worth your time and your passion. Because ultimately those worlds only exist, and thrive, with you in them.

We are hard at work right now doing that—both with Marathon and Destiny. We’re currently heads down, but we’ll have more to show you in both of these worlds later this year.

In closing—I know I can speak for all of Bungie when I say:

I appreciate your passion, your perspective, and the time you spend with us.

Per Audacia Ad Astra,
Justin Truman
Studio Head, Bungie