In August 2023, I began contracting for Bungie—the game developer behind titles like Halo and Destiny.
I was brought on to assist the game developer’s Internal Communications team, where I streamlined complex messages from across the studio (including Bungie’s executive team) into digestible information for the company at large.
Aside from intensive editing work—using guidelines from The Chicago Manual of Style—this role largely involved strategizing how Bungie spoke internally about a range of topics, including global events, giveback, inclusion, diversity, and equity, and more.
Below are a few examples of the work I did in my time with Bungie.
Quick disclaimer: Because I was a contractor on the internal communications team at Bungie, much of the projects I worked on contained sensitive or confidential information. As a result, I’m not able to feature all of the work I did here in my portfolio.
Merger & Acquisition Communications
Worked with the larger communications team and key executives on messaging surrounding Sony’s multi-billion dollar purchase of Bungie.
Leadership Team Ghostwriting
Worked with primary stakeholders on company-wide communications. Advised on voice, tone, cadence, and distribution strategy.
HR Communications Strategy
Managed an overhaul of the communications plan for Bungie’s professional development (PD) process. Crafted messaging for the Total Rewards team reagrding benefit changes.
Editorial & Style Guide Creation
Worked with Bungie’s Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Team on a comprehensive Inclusive Language & Terms Guide for both internal and external company projects. Wrote a comprehensive closed captions best practices guide and used it write accurate closed captions for all of Bungie’s required training videos.
Internal Communications
Worked with key HR counterparts to reinvision content strategy for The Bungie Beat, Bungie’s internal newsletter. Helped write and edit Bungie’s monthly Inclusion, Diversity & Equity newsletter. Helped write and edit Bungie’s monthly, company-wide Studio Update.
Bungie S23 Congratulatory Card
When?
Fall 2023
The Background:
Whenever a new season of Destiny 2 launches, Bungie sends a congratulatory card and commemorative patch to every employee who worked on the project. The intention of both the design of the card and its copy is to 1) acknowledge how special the features of the new installment are, 2) recognize the amount of work that goes into its production, and 3) give employees something special to share on social media, if they so choose.
The Challenge:
About a month or so into my contract with Bungie, I was tasked with writing the copy for the Destiny 2 Season 23 congratulatory card. This was my first time writing for the game development team.
Though straightforward, the project required a large amount of research — I’m not a gamer myself, so reading up on any and all briefs for Season 23 was a must. It also required a taste for larger studio sentiment to ensure the card used proper voice and tone.
The Solution:
I successfully wrote the Season 23 card, which was then sent to every Destiny 2 team member who worked on Season 23. Reviewers included Bungie’s larger editorial team as well as Destiny 2 leadership, both of which had minimal edits and, luckily, plenty of positive feedback.
Here’s a final mockup of what employees received:
Bungie 2023 Holiday Card
When?
Fall 2023
The Background:
Each holiday season, the office of the CEO at Bungie sends every member of the studio a holiday card. The artwork featured on these cards is always designed to commemorate or reminisce on a meaningful event that happened during the year — whether that be to Bungie specifically, the gaming community in general, or the world at large.
The Challenge:
The 2023 Bungie Holiday Card was a particularly important one. The visual design on the front of the card featured two key Destiny characters: Commander Zavala and Cayde 6. Commander Zavala was previously voiced by actor Lance Reddick, who sadly passed away on March 17 of 2023. Cayde is a favorite of many Destiny 2 fans and, at the time, was slated to return in the next installment of the game: The Final Shape.
We were briefed that this image was developed to commemorate both Lance’s memory as well as the bright future of Bungie. So, when brainstorming copy, I needed to figure out how to combine these two complex emotions into a single succinct description (while also ensuring that it was appropriate for the holiday season).
The Solution:
After a lot of brainstorming, I landed on a few options for copy. The writing shown below on the inside of the card is the option that was ultimately selected by leadership. It effectively used Bungie’s signature whimsical voice to salute Lance’s impact, while also ending 2023 on a hopeful and upbeat note.
