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Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy, two senior executives at Bungie, were both part of the recent round of layoffs, according to a new report. Speaking on his Game Mess Decides podcast, Jeff Grubb confirmed that the duo were working on Payback, a new game set in the Destiny universe, but were let go as part of sweeping job losses at the now PlayStation-owned studio.
“[Smith and Noseworthy] were labelled as working on Payback. It was going to be the next big thing for Destiny, but not Destiny 3,” Grubb said. “Luke Smith and Mark Noseworthy are no longer at Bungie. They were let go. They were caught in the executive and leadership shakeup mentioned in the blogpost. Payback has been shelved.”
[Update] Sources have clarified that Smith and Noseworthy’s departure came as the Payback project was shut down, after which executive restructuring meant they had no path forward at Bungie.
Smith was executive director at Bungie and became a notable public-facing representative for the studio, having guided Destiny 2’s narrative back to a place that excited fans and more clearly set up a long-term story for the sci-fi shooter. Noseworthy, meanwhile, was vice president of the Destiny universe and responsible for the overall strategy of Destiny as an intellectual property and a business.
GameSpot has contacted Bungie for a statement.
On July 31, Bungie executive new Marathon, which is coming back as an extraction shooter.
