Bungie introduced in March that its upcoming Marathon reboot had a brand new sport director: Joe Ziegler, the previous director of Riot’s on-line shooter Valorant, who joined Bungie in 2022. Ziegler took over from Christopher Barrett, well-known amongst Bungie followers as a designer and director on the Halo and Destiny video games who’d been with the studio for almost 25 years. A cause for Barrett’s shock departure wasn’t offered, however a brand new Bloomberg report says he was fired following an investigation into a number of complaints about inappropriate office conduct.
At least eight girls at Bungie had complained about Barrett, based on a number of sources, and the following investigation discovered that he had known as lower-ranking feminine workers enticing, requested them to play Truth or Dare, and talked about his wealth and energy inside Bungie, apparently suggesting that he might assist their careers on the firm.
Sources advised the location that Barrett would befriend girls on the firm, then ship them “flirtatious” textual content messages and requests to “hang around.” Multiple complainants stated the messages have been undesirable and made them uncomfortable due to the acute imbalance of energy concerned: It’s not simple to say “no” to one of many greatest names on the firm, in any case.
Barrett denied any intentional wrongdoing in a press release offered to Bloomberg: “I really feel that I’ve at all times performed myself with integrity and been respectful and supportive of my colleagues, lots of whom I think about my closest mates. I by no means understood my communications to be undesirable and I’d have by no means thought they might probably have made anybody really feel uncomfortable. If anybody ever felt that manner about their interplay with me, I’m actually sorry.”
The report on the circumstances behind Barrett’s termination comes at a time of deep turmoil at Bungie, which has been wracked by large-scale layoffs, tensions with mum or dad firm Sony, dissatisfaction with studio administration amongst workers and followers alike, and seemingly limitless struggles with its flagship sport, Destiny 2. Barrett had been a producer on the Forsaken growth that launched in September 2018, and was extensively credited with turning the sport’s fortunes round throughout one other time when neighborhood dissatisfaction was perilously excessive.
The Marathon reboot itself—about which nearly nothing has been stated since its announcement in May 2023—has additionally reportedly been delayed to 2025; PC Gamer’s personal sources at Bungie have indicated that improvement of the sport is considerably delayed and usually troubled.
I’ve reached out to Bungie for touch upon the report and can replace if I obtain a reply.
