Christine Edwards

Ah, so good. What a way to start our Monday.

I feel like there's, like, millions of people out in the world that just, like, hate me right now. Like, this just doesn't happen.

No big deal. You know, it's fine.

Yeah.

Well, congratulations. That's amazing.

Yeah, you did it.

Well, I think just take a step back and then kind of moving into the culture side. So I think part of the reason why both Jared and I probably got jobs here, even though we got jobs in something that we weren't necessarily directly experienced in, is because we're...

I think both really strong team players, really adaptable, really willing to jump in to whatever is necessary to make sure that our teams are successful, the company is successful, the projects that we work on are successful. And so obviously there are specific jobs. If you're not an artist, you're probably not going to get an art job.

But for the most part, there are so many different types of roles within a gaming company. And some of them are... development related or like an engineer, an artist, a designer, whatever else. But there's a ton of other operational roles, finance, HR, like marketing, you know, all sorts of stuff.

Um, so like the pathways into a company like Bungie doesn't have to be, I think as linear as people think that it needs to be. Um, I think like the more important thing is like, if you're passionate about something, like pursue that passion, like pursue it, you know, in your free time, on your own time, like study it, like whatever else. Um,

but don't think that you have to be one specific thing to I think get a job at Bungie or anywhere else. Because I think once you're in, I mean there's been so much mobility. My job I think is a really good example. Again, I started as a six month contract administrative role

Um, started the foundation, you know, early, early on, we officially formed in 2010, but even in 2010, it was like a 10th of my job, uh, moved into like a marketing role, was in marketing for a long time until the foundation was big enough to kind of, you know, become like a full-time thing. And now we're a team of five and still growing.

Um, and so I think that's like, like adaptability, like saying like, yes to things like, what does the company need? Like, how can I show up and be of service gets you so far and gets like, that's where like the growth opportunities I think happen. And so when I think about,

the culture at Bungie, like that, those are the types of things that I, that I think of that we're really, really good at is showing up for each other, being adaptable, putting in the work that we need to get done, caring for our, you know, fellow colleagues.

Um, and not just kind of like to a certain extent, like not, not necessarily like staying in our own lane, like sometimes like, you know, you have a job and you have to get it done, but like being willing to say like, what does this project need? What does my team need of me? How can I show up and support? Um,

Yeah, so it's just created, I think, like a really inclusive, really supportive environment because we all show up to do our best work.

Uh, pretty much my entire adult life. Yeah. Basically right out of college. Yeah. Started in 2008, April, 2008. So I think like next month it's going to be 17 years. I don't know. I think 17 years. Yeah.

We have a saying here that every Bungie employee is a game dev. Whether you directly work on the game or indirectly support the studio, we are all here for a common purpose. And without any of those specific roles, something else fails. We need all... all pillars of the chair, you know, to keep the chair up.

I turned 40 this year.

22 to 40 is a long time.

Yeah, I would say there's probably no leader here or no manager here that doesn't take it very seriously. The people on their team, they're not going to be there forever. We want to see people grow. We want to see people learn. We want to see people continue to pursue their passions. We want to foster them to be able to do whatever they want. follow whatever growth path they want.

And so, yeah, we have a lot of people who are in test to design. We have people who are narratives to something else. Like we have people who sort of move within the company pretty freely because we're always looking to continue fostering that, that growth. So you're never stuck. Like, I mean, again, I was an admin to the director of the foundation. He was my producer and I was on the dev team.

Like this, it's like a daily story here at Bungie of people continuing to learn and grow and

It's been a great ride. A really, really fun ride for sure.

Oh, yes. I remember this.

Yeah, totally.

But I still keep on reeling him in.

Uninstall.

balancing everything that Jared said, while also really taking great critical feedback, ingesting critical feedback, whether it's anecdotal or not. But we also have a wonderful analytics team that is not just looking at,

Yeah.

what are you know all the words that are being spewed at us on the internet but like what does like the data actually tell us like how big of a problem is this actually like is this you know the one percent of the population just wants to rage on the internet or is it actually like something's broken we actually need to fix it so like taking that balance of like what's our vision what's the time constraints that we actually have and that's where we have amazing producers come in to like help us really navigate

that piece, and then how do we prioritize? What are the pieces that we can actually move the needle on? What are the biggest pieces of improvements that we can implement that doesn't divert from the goals and the vision of the game? to move the needle forward. I just want to make sure that we're not saying that feedback is not taken.

We take a ton and a ton and a ton of feedback, both anecdotal but also really data-driven feedback to really make those key decisions.

Love it.

Oh man.

So we'll get an engineer on it. He'll figure it out.

Yeah. Like moving into live services, as you all know, like it's so different from putting out box products, right? Like, like, There used to be sort of, I think, an expectation of like, OK, like they, you know, they launched a game. Now we can provide feedback and then they're going to like incorporate that feedback, whatever that looks like, build a new game and then launch that game. Right.

So you have an expectation that like not everything is going to happen immediately, but like in this live service

World like everything does feel immediate and like, you know You should have what you asked for today five minutes from now and it just doesn't it doesn't work that way even though game development Still takes just as long as game development has always taken in a lot of ways I think it's a lot harder than it used to be

and it's just communicating that with, with the community and actually like getting that level of understanding and empathy. Maybe.

To be fair, I was also going to say the Warthog, not because I've actually played the Warthog, because I remember it. Because you guys are wise, and you're smart.

And you know. And it's called a Warthog, and isn't that cute?

Yeah. It wasn't really my thing. Games make me like super anxious. I'm sure there's games out there for me, but I'm just, Ooh, that's, it's like my perfectionist mentality. Like games just, Oh, they're, they're hard. But the Bungie Foundation has taught me a lot about games and the importance of them. So yeah. I've tried to get her in. I've tried to, you don't want to see me play destiny.

That sounds disgusting. I don't want to drink that.

That feels right, doesn't it?

Machines need like oil and grease and stuff.

Yeah, so our primary mission really is to empower our community to make the world a better place through supporting three core pillars that we have, which is supporting children's well-being, inclusion, diversity, and equity, and humanitarian aid. So what a lot of people I think don't really recognize is the Bungie Foundation is like 98% funded by the Bungie community.

It's through our fundraisers. It's through like when we do in-game activations. It's the core of what we do and it supports all the work that we do.

So yeah, so I mean, from a children's wellbeing perspective, we kind of have two core areas, but one really primary focus, which is the Little Lights program, formerly iPads for Kids, where we partner with children's hospitals all over the country to provide entertainment technology, entertainment distraction for kids while they're going through some of the darkest days of their lives.

Yeah, so it's really intended to provide entertainment, distraction, therapeutic play, a sense of normalcy, just give them, you know, something that brightens their day when they're really struggling. And as we all know, games is such a powerful tool for that. So any patient who comes into the hospital, they get an iPad.

You don't, you don't want to see it. It's not good.

It's downloaded with a whole bunch of entertainment content that's age appropriate to their age. It takes into account their cognitive abilities, their physical disabilities. It's worked in partnership with Children's Hospital's Child Life Team and nursing staff to really make sure that every child gets the content that they can best utilize.

And we're in 20 plus hospitals at this point, which is super exciting. We also have a really amazing partnership with Make-A-Wish. Um, where we provide all their entertainment technology as well.

So we do anything from like, um, converting somebody's basement into a DJ studio to, you know, helping, you know, uh, kids who want to be YouTubers one day set up their YouTube setups, like whatever it might be. Like if it, if you can plug it in, turn it on, like we're the, we're the group that helps Make-A-Wish make those happen.

There's nothing more powerful than a gaming community.

But I think we figured it out pretty well. What motivates gamers to give back? We have a pretty good strategy there.

Oh, gosh.

There's so many moments. And honestly, some of the things that I think stand out for me most, I won't go into detail, because a lot of them are actually really hard, really heartbreaking moments. But I think the ones that are most powerful that really stand out to me have been kids who maybe in the end didn't make it and who in their last days and their last weeks and their last moments

moved to games, moved to technology to bring those final moments of joy, to distract them from what they were going through, to distract them from the pain that they were maybe feeling. I mean, you all know, like once, like if you're in a game, like you are hardcore focused, like the world, you know, just kind of disappears around you.

And that's what we see, I think, at children's hospitals with Make-A-Wish kids all the time is these really hard, painful moments that they're going through when you immerse them in something that puts them in a different world and a different mentality. for just like a little bit, the world gets to fade away a little bit and they can just be kids.

They can just have pure joy, pure fun, um, for however long that happens to be.

And so hearing those stories being, you know, even in person with some of these, these stories with kids who just, you know, one moment are just in, in, you know, really, really deep pain or, or, um, or just, you know, just fear or anxiety and then immersing them in something, a video game, an iPad, like whatever it happens to be and just seeing their eyes, like

their eyes light up, their like demeanor completely changed. It's just really powerful. And that's where I think for me as a non-gamer, I still have so much passion for what games represent because I get to see these moments.

I think he's like actually like permanently tethered to the foundation.

Yeah. I mean, it's definitely evolved over the years. Like when I, um, started it in 2010, it was just me, right? Like I had a hundred percent of everything that we, that we did. And so, you know, it's kind of been like, okay, like we could grow the organization. We have enough, um, or I like, I physically can't handle enough of it anymore. Okay.

I'm going to hire a new person, kind of take on like this, like specific, you know, role project management, production, communications management, whatever. So my, my role has changed, um, from just kind of like 100% hands-on in every single thing that we do to, you know, being more in a management and strategic leadership role. So most of the time at this point, my day is a lot of meetings.

It's a lot of meetings with my own team, you know, supporting our team and all the efforts that they're doing, whether it's massive fundraising campaigns that take, you know, months to plan and organize, whether it's, you know, talking about different strategies for the programs that rerun, like the Little Lights program,

or things like that, just making sure that we're really looking at what our long-term strategy is and how the various activations and things that we're doing on a day-to-day basis are really moving the needle into where we want to go. It's a lot of also working. We have a wonderful board of directors, primarily comprised of Bungie Inc. executives.

So really working with them in terms of what is that five-year roadmap? Where is it that we want to go? How do we want to represent ourselves? As the charitable arm of a bungee. How do we kind of continue to be that cultural driver? within within the company And how like what do we need to do to get there, right?

Like what it's what's the funding mechanisms that we need to do to get there Are we on track when it comes to you know? Partnering with a with a destiny community in the ways that we do do we need to think about different strategies? It's also a lot of like working directly with our partners. We have a lot of nonprofit partners that we work with and

you know day in and day out year over year and so it's you know figuring out how can we best show up for them um and how can we do that in a way that's in alignment with our with our mission and our values um ultimately so that we can make sure that all of those donor dollars that are coming to us are being put back out into the world in a way that's really going to make the world a better place

I can only imagine. Jared came on and he took a lot of work from me.

He started and I could finally let her sleep at night.

That's a good question. I mean, I have, like, a really, like, soft heart, I think, for Halo just because, like, it was really my introduction into games. I started in 2008. We were, like, co-developing ODST and Reach at the same time. When I started, I was working in marketing. So, like, I know the marketing side of things even if I don't play.

I mean, I think we spend so much time trying to figure out how we build those moments, especially on the Destiny side, obviously.

So we've put together really amazing, compelling campaigns that we do twice a year, Game to Give and Bungie Day, where we're partnering with our content creators, we're creating in-game activations, creating really fun, meaningful ways where our community can give back, and they're also receiving something really cool out of it, like the gamification.

I think we've done a really good job of gamifying A fundraising that really makes it a fun experience and something that people want to unite together on. So always participating in those events, showing up monthly when we do our Bungie Bounties for Good. It's an opportunity for us to not necessarily fundraise, but to create awareness around the organizations that we support.

um, to find, you know, different organizations that you personally might be passionate about. Like the Bunchy Foundation is like, you know, of course we always want you to, you know, come and hang out with us and support us. But ultimately we want you to find the organizations that you've, that you feel connected to and passionate about.

And if we can help educate, um, and raise awareness on those different organizations so that you can go and, you know, support them directly. I think that's, that's amazing.

Right.

Yeah, and it was just, like, my first introduction into, like, games and the gaming community and how, like, excited and passionate people are about games.

games and it like taught me so much about what it takes to actually make a game and how complicated it is and how many different people you have and how many different teams are working on it and just the teamwork and camaraderie around all of it. So yeah, I think I have a soft place in my heart for good old Halo.

What we've found, I think, on our side, on the dev side, any of the in-game activations that we've done have never detracted from the profits that Destiny has made. It's only bolstered the level of awareness in-game, the level of excitement in-game. So it's a net positive across the board. I think there can be this potential fear of...

you know, cause margins are already really thin in a lot of cases. Right. And so, um, you know, thinking about how, you know, doing something in game that could potentially detract from, you know, especially if you're like MTX reliant or whatever it happens to be like, will this thing detract from like the money that we have to make to pay our employees to, you know, to innovate, to do whatever.

And for us, at least the answer has always been a resounding, no, it's always only been a net positive. So I think overcoming some of that fear, um, is a big, is a big piece of it. Cause I think there's sort of like that expectation of like, you give something, you take something.

And I would just say, just so you know what that does, how impactful that is, when we look at our Make-A-Wish technology grants that we do, a $5,000 grant is our average wish. So I want you guys to think of that donation literally as granting.

So truly, because of you, there's a kid out there who's going to get their YouTube set up. Someone's going to get their DJ boot, their custom gaming PC. It really, every single dollar matters so, so much and is the thing that changes people's lives. You guys are so great. Thank you so much.

I think, so we have, what's the, The Battle Axe. The Iron Banner Battle Axe. Whatever it's called. We have a one-to-one replica of the Battle Axe. That's made out of pure iron. It's giant.

It's like 35, 40 pounds. I don't know.

It's super heavy. Just super ornate. It looks exactly like it does in game. And it's the real deal. You could chop someone's head off with it. I wouldn't do that. But it's real cool.

Yeah.

We have a professional maker who's on staff.

Oh, man.

I think it's okay. We have a garage underneath us. It recognizes your license plate. Some days.

You have your badge just in case it doesn't work.

Yeah. Yeah. There was a minute where it got real, real rough.

I feel like we need to create a juicy story. That sounds so awful.

But the truth is... They've actually made it really easy for us like we drive our car and you can register your license plate Like you don't have to like I don't know I mean bungee if you don't have a car bungee will you know cover your they we have bus and rail That's awesome.

Yeah, we have the Bus Pass or Sound Transit. We also have a really cool Go Green initiative. If you walk, carpool, or ride your bike to work, you get a gift card. I don't know. There's an incentivization to not take your car if you don't want to.

Lazy.

I'm going to be honest. I don't know who Doomguy is. I'm going to say Master Chief.

He's gone through space and killed space aliens.

Appreciate it.

And thank you to you guys.

Yeah. It'll go to a good cause. I promise.

I'm the same way.

Yeah, December.

It's a really good question, especially for somebody who doesn't play games and doesn't make games. What am I even doing here? Um, yeah, so my personal story and it's like unique to me, everyone has their own journey, but, um, yeah, so I, out of college, I was like a Latin American studies major. I planned on going into global health. Like I knew I wanted to be a nonprofit.

Um, so after college I moved to Guatemala and I was volunteering with the medical clinic. I spent every last dollar that I had and moved home and just like immediately I just like needed a job. And I had already gone into, I had already like registered for my like master's program that was supposed to start in six months.

And I was just like, what can I do for six months to get me like any penny to my name? And at the time, Bungie was hiring for a six month contract admin position. And I'm like, I know nothing about video games, but it's the exact time frame that I need and I can do admin work, I'm sure. So I applied for it. I went into the interview.

And no joke, for a six-month contract admin role, it was an eight-hour interview. I interviewed with a representative of every single department at Bungie. And it was the best interview ever. Everyone was just so kind. They were super excited to hear about my story. At the time, we had recently separated from Microsoft. And so Bungie as a whole was like...

really interested in figuring out, hey, how do we leverage this amazing community, this amazing game that we have, and how do we leverage it for the power of good? And here I was, this 22-year-old person who was kind of volunteering for a living at that point, and they're like, maybe you can help us figure this out.

Maybe you have some ideas on how we can harness this thing and do some good in the world. So yeah, so I started with a six-month contract. Um, and we pretty quickly like started diving into the world of like, how do we start a nonprofit? Like, what does that look like? What would we do if we were to start a nonprofit? Like, how can we actually like, you know, build this?

Um, and six months turned into 17 years and just like, I may be in my mid forties.

It does. Yeah.

I told my friends that I was interviewing. They're like, yeah, like I'm just like this, this company called Bungie. Like I'm going to go in for an interview and all my friends like slack job.

He's really tall.

I don't know.

He seems cool.

Very, very hard to break in.

She got a job at Amazon.

Um,