Bungie has issued a statement that the suggestion that Activision ordered some sort of layoffs at the developer is false. Rumors claim that this is not the case and contractors were let go for no reason; and, in fact, a rumored Email indicated that it was due to “project sensitivity” and “budgetary concerns from our publisher” and this is something that Bungie is clearly refuting in their statement.

While the rumor talk rages on, Bungie went on to say that it would confirm that almost 200 would be employed to work on the new multiplatform project that Activision is apparently funding. This seems to be where the rub is in all of these rumors, as Activision-Blizzard has admitted that they are funding the project. Some suggest that while the company has been belt tightening in other areas and cutting staff, it seems that despite what Bungie might say publicly they will certainly exert some budgetary control of the project.

Actually, we find it very unique that Bungie would feel so compelled to jump into this fray and feel the need to discredit the layoffs. In fact, Bungie posted on Bungie.Net an additional clarification of the issued statement saying, “Bungie has not experienced any layoffs or group firings of any kind,” and beyond this fact the studio provided a link to its jobs section as evidence that it is actually in hiring mode.

It is really difficult to what to make of all of this; but we doubt that it will really impact the new project that they are working on, and think it is more of a matter of public perception than anything else. We expect this story to slip away and not continue to make news if Bungie opts not to issue any additional statements, but it is doubtful that we will ever know the entire truth of what happened.