Marty O'Donnell Fired By Bungie

[Gahars]

You might not recognize the name or care for Halo at (can't blame you there), but you've probably heard the series' theme at one point or another. While 343 Studios plays Weekend At Bernie's with the Halo franchise, O'Donnell stuck with Bungie for their upcoming title Destiny.

That was the plan, at least.

For more than a decade, Marty O’Donnell filled our worlds with unforgettable sounds and soundtracks, and left an indelible mark on our fans. Today, as friends, we say goodbye. We know that wherever his journey takes him, he will always have a bright and hopeful future.

We wish him luck in all his future endeavors.

Bungie.net
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It seems that some other Bungie members have been fired as well, including Joe Staten (one of the head writers). There's no word yet on why these firings have taken place. New managers cleaning house? Getting rid of the old for cheaper replacements? An excuse for mustache-twiddling? Your guess is as good as mine.

Rev up those conspiracies because now's the time, folks.

 

[DiscostewSM]

They were found sending messages to each of about how much they would like to develop on the Wii U.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I hope he got most of the music finished for Destiny before he left.

 

[Attila13]

Unfortunately his destiny wasn't at Bungie.

 

[omarrrio]

I hope he got most of the music finished for Destiny before he left.

before firing any employee, the company makes sure to pay him his salary, that way he can't sue them for breaking the contract, to get paid, he must finish his part of the contract, thus i believe he finished the Soundtracks for "Destiny".

 

[linkenski]

Marty O'donnel was the entire spirit of the Halo games and I thought he would be there for Destiny for the rest of its cycle too. This news is OUTRAGEOUS!

Boycott Destiny, is what I'm gonna do. It's less Bungie and more pure Activision now. Screw the rest of Bungie and screw Activision!

 

[Jayro]

Aaaaaaaaand nothing of value was lost.

 

[Originality]

So the guy gets fired without cause and notifies everybody about it. This would probably be because if they told him the reason and he told everybody, it would make worse PR than what they've already done.

Here's hoping his talent finds a good new home and makes other games more successful.

 

[TripleSMoon]

Aaaaaaaaand nothing of value was lost.

...Are you well?

Jokes aside, this is a real shame. The lack of Marty in Halo 4's soundtrack was one of the things that really made the game feel empty to me, and I absolutely loved his work in the original trilogy and Reach.

Here's to hoping 343 picks him up for future Halo games... Though it won't mean much to me, since I don't intend to get an Xbox One until the near-end of the eighth generation, at the very least.

"The weight of your heresy will stay your feet... and you will be left behind."

 

[DaggerV]

Guess Bungie should have stayed with Microft

 

[chavosaur]

This is tragic Horrifying news ;-; Marty brought the ambience and overall spirit of Halo to new life with his works, and I'm sure the same could be said for Destiny. I'm extremely disappointed to see him go as would love to know the cause of his termination.

I have hopes that he may move on hopefully to 343 to Bring his talents back to the Franchise he put his heart into but only time will tell.

As for everyone else Criticizing him and Bungie, I feel sorry for your ignorance. I do not know the full story as to why he was terminated, not do I understand the inner workings of Bungie, but I have my faith that they are still heavily involved in the production of Destiny no matter WHO is publishing it, and would refuse to let their projects be interfered with too much.

EDIT: I completely missed the part about Joe as well. This truly is sad news. I wish them both the best, they're remarkable at what they do.

 

[Hells Malice]

I was never impressed with how Bungie handled Halo's storytelling, but the music was always top notch.
So this is some sad news. It would be interesting to know why they are doing this.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Give them all Halo's because they're dead to bungie.

 

[Snailface]

Creative differences.
Bungie likely wants to boot a new franchise and not be seen as cloning Halo for a new generation.

Anyway, the affected employees have made quite a name for themselves in the industry and likely wont be out of work for long.

 

[Taleweaver]

I don't want to sound cynical, but doesn't that happen a lot in the games industry? The only difference is that today, it's instantly known around the world rather than just the fired person's circle of friends.

And while tracks like that are awesome on your resume, it's still risky to say it's "without cause". No doubt, every studio he'll apply to will want to check with that board.

 

[zachtheninja]

"Without cause" is a legal phrase, which means that the termination had nothing to do with the individual's work or beliefs, it was a purely abstract business decision. (Then again, I might be reading legal terms into something that's just a tweet.)