Oh please let this be April Fools Day +10

https://twitter.com/martytheelder/status/456303189998841856

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Marty O'Donnell (@MartyTheElder) tweeted at 10:28pm - 15 Apr 14:

I'm saddened to say that Bungie's board of directors terminated me without cause on April 11, 2014. (https://twitter.com/MartyTheElder/status/456303189998841856)

Get the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download

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Not something I expected to ever see.

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https://twitter.com/martytheelder/status/456303189998841856

I'm dumbfounded. "Say it ain't so, Marty"

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I'm assuming/hoping this is a belated April Fool's prank (Bungie doesn't have a board of directors....do they?) Still, I felt my heart sink into my stomach.

Edit: And if this isn't a prank, well I'm speechless. Love you Marty, and I wish you all the best.

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I'm assuming/hoping this is a belated April Fool's prank (Bungie doesn't have a board of directors....do they?) Still, I felt my heart sink into my stomach.

Yeah as far as I'm aware the "board of directors" is Pete Parsons and Jason Jones. I'm really hoping this is a joke and/or a reference to something that we're just all missing.

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Why... why would they fire Marty? My brain literally cannot compute this.

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Why... why would they fire Marty? My brain literally cannot compute this.

Yeah I just keep reloading twitter hoping someone will explain.

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Who's going to make Destiny's music from now on? Their is literally no one else alive that I would trust with the music in Bungie's games.

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I'm assuming/hoping this is a belated April Fool's prank (Bungie doesn't have a board of directors....do they?) Still, I felt my heart sink into my stomach.

Yeah as far as I'm aware the "board of directors" is Pete Parsons and Jason Jones. I'm really hoping this is a joke and/or a reference to something that we're just all missing.

April 11th, 2014 -> 11/4/14 -> 11-4=7/14

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Yeah as far as I'm aware the "board of directors" is Pete Parsons and Jason Jones. I'm really hoping this is a joke and/or a reference to something that we're just all missing.

According to BusinessWeek, it's just Harold Ryan and Jason Jones.

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Bungie has a board of directors? WTF is that?

I can't even assimilate this news, it literally makes no sense. Why would they fire Marty?

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Wat.

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!!!!!!!

edit: (For the uninformed, Stinkles is Frankie.)

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I almost can't believe it.

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I refuse to believe it.

-Hedge.

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If it was an April Fools joke it is going to go down as a bad one.

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It's a damn good thing I had planned on waiting to buy an Xbox One Special Edition to go with this. Hopefully my post will indeed unveil a massive prank just to prove me wrong, but in any case:

Bungie Studios, you have graciously saved me over six hundred dollars this year--I HAVE CANCELLED MY PRE-ORDER FOR DESTINY AND WILL BOYCOTT ITS USE FOR THE REST OF MY NATURAL LIFETIME. Likewise, for as long as I live and breathe, I will never purchase another Bungie Studios product in the future, regardless of sales, quality or popularity unless Martin is rehired--WITHOUT CAUSE--immediately.

You better have had a damn good reason for firing Him--a serious discrepancy. All the years I've stood by you, defended you, even studied and cataloged you, and almost immediately it seems to go to waste.

May God have mercy on your fucking souls, Bungie. Hope it was worth it.

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May God have mercy on your fucking souls, Bungie. Hope it was worth it.

Like the few hundred others at Bungie who've done amazing work on Gnop, Operation Desert Storm, Minotaur, Pathways Into Darkness, Marathon, Myth, Oni, Halo, Pimps at Sea, Phoenix, and thus far on Destiny don't matter or anything. Please don't tell me you're truly this angsty.

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May God have mercy on your fucking souls, Bungie. Hope it was worth it.

Like the few hundred others at Bungie who've done amazing work on Gnop, Operation Desert Storm, Pathways Into Darkness, Minotaur, Myth, Marathon, Halo, Pimps at Sea, and thus far on Destiny don't matter or anything. Please don't tell me you're truly this angsty.

Um, there's pretty much just ONE person who worked on those games left at Bungie: Jason Jones. There may be a few myth people left, and probably some Halo folk.

The company before you is pretty much entirely new from the Halo days.

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May God have mercy on your fucking souls, Bungie. Hope it was worth it.

Like the few hundred others at Bungie who've done amazing work on Gnop, Operation Desert Storm, Pathways Into Darkness, Minotaur, Myth, Marathon, Halo, Pimps at Sea, and thus far on Destiny don't matter or anything. Please don't tell me you're truly this angsty.

Um, there's pretty much just ONE person who worked on those games left at Bungie: Jason Jones. There may be a few myth people left, and probably some Halo folk.

The company before you is pretty much entirely new from the Halo days.

I'm sure there were still a few old old timey grizzled ancients still on the team when Destiny was in concept phase. In any case however, that's not what I'm concerned about. I'm talking about the team as a whole. One's departure shouldn't necessarily reflect on everyone else who's doing their best. I could care less if they were from Chicago, Bungie West, or Bellevue folk who don't even know what Pong is backwards. :P

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I am well aware of that--I don't have this nostalgic fantasy where everyone I remember from Oni forward has stayed on Bungie forever just because it was "awesome". I will be the first to say I don't keep track of every single arrival and departure within--I doubt I'd be able to anyway. However, this is one of the highest opined and most well known faces of Bungie itself we're talking about here. This is an icon--a legend. Not a single person in the music OR gaming world will ever be able to utter even these three simple words--'four notes ascending'--without instantly recognizing that spark of unfathomable greatness. Hell, I have friends and family members--those who can't even spell Xbox or pick up a controller--enjoying most of his music. I feel a small twinge of discomfort associating with the casual audience, but for chrissake, the main theme of Halo might as well be the new World 1-1.

If Marty had quit, this whole thing would be a different story. I'd be in tears(of sadness, and not the raging furious denial I'm going through right now), I'd be shocked, saddened and maybe even a little hurt--but I'd respect Marty's wish for further immortality through composition. Hell, I'd be happy for Him. But to be fired, literally SCARRED with that permanent mark of financial, vocational (and likely emotional) damage like that is the worst thing they could ever do. And then for no goddamn reason either. NOW, Marty may not have wanted to tell us when that tweet was issued, what happened, or if there actually was a reason or not. I'm honestly hoping to God that he actually did do something really bad, because that would be a 2nd story, one more sensible.

Pretty much every job I applied for, got, didn't get, etc. they almost all say "X has the right to terminate with or without due cause", boilerplate crap. But you need to do better than that when you're telling somebody that they no longer have a job; a CAREER. A dependable source of income. A method of keeping a roof over your head.

I'm not worried about Marty finding another music job. At this point in His life, His resume can just be a single sheet of notebook paper with the following written on three lines:

'Four Notes Ascending'

'Flinstones Kids'

and a crudely drawn picture of a microphone hitting the floor.

(I'm not gonna lie, picturing that actually made me feel a lot better.)

But that 'no cause' shit you save for interns and greenhorn rookies. You throw away the man who redefined modern video game composition, you give Him (and honestly, His millions of fans) a reason why.

2000, an enormous part of video game history and 'No Cause'?!

FUCK.

THEM.

I honestly cannot wait for 343 Industries to announce Halo:Every Damn Game In The Series Anniversary Anniversary Anniversary at E3 so I can swear Halo off altogether.

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Okay, you're trolling. Why? I have no idea.

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I'm done. I've said my piece and I'm leaving. You can take what I've said as a joke all you want. But I mean every word I've said this evening, and I'm sticking to my promise.

See you later.

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It's a damn good thing I had planned on waiting to buy an Xbox One Special Edition to go with this. Hopefully my post will indeed unveil a massive prank just to prove me wrong, but in any case:

Bungie Studios, you have graciously saved me over six hundred dollars this year--I HAVE CANCELLED MY PRE-ORDER FOR DESTINY AND WILL BOYCOTT ITS USE FOR THE REST OF MY NATURAL LIFETIME. Likewise, for as long as I live and breathe, I will never purchase another Bungie Studios product in the future, regardless of sales, quality or popularity unless Martin is rehired--WITHOUT CAUSE--immediately.

You better have had a damn good reason for firing Him--a serious discrepancy. All the years I've stood by you, defended you, even studied and cataloged you, and almost immediately it seems to go to waste.

May God have mercy on your fucking souls, Bungie. Hope it was worth it.

Whoa, I'm as passionate about Marty's amazing music as the next guy, but you should really wait and see what happens before making outrageous statements like this.

I'm in absolute shock if this is entirely true- just one of those things you take for granted.

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Lord have mercy.

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Dude, get a grip. I'm going to miss Marty's music too (or maybe not, he might pop up somewhere else where we'll get to hear it), but you have zero idea what actually happened. Yes, there is the "without cause" phrase, but keep in mind that's coming from the person who was let go. It's possible that statement is disingenuous, and even if it isn't, Marty not knowing a reason doesn't necessarily mean there wasn't one. Ask yourself whether anyone would fire such a talented composer with no actual reason. Doesn't seem likely to me, though I am at a loss as to what that reason could have been.

Anyway, I don't want to take sides here - and that's my point, really. None of us knows enough about what happened to possibly have any idea who (if anyone) is in the wrong. And this sort of reaction with NO evidence... I just, I don't know, man. It seems like a bit much.

BTW, I mean the rant specifically seems like an overreaction. If you're not comfortable spending your money on a game when you feel something nefarious might have happened, that's cool.

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Yes, there is the "without cause" phrase, but keep in mind that's coming from the person who was let go. It's possible that statement is disingenuous, and even if it isn't, Marty not knowing a reason doesn't necessarily mean there wasn't one.

There probably isn't even a question of disengenuousness here. "Without cause" doesn't mean there literally wasn't a reason behind it, it's a common legal term used with termination when the company doesn't officially/openly/whatever specify.
"Terminated without cause" just specifies the type of action taken by the company. It would be a bit strange for Marty to lie about that.

Obviously there was a cause, we just have no idea what it was.

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https://twitter.com/martytheelder/status/456303189998841856

I'm not going to SAY Activision has anything to do with this…

…but they do have a habit of getting rid of good people.

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Can we hit all the tropes?

Evil publisher?

Right wing opinions suppressed?

What else have you got?

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Die Hard Villain: Villain masquerading ideology when instead it's all a clever ruse to cover a heist in progress.

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What else have you got?

Marty stole the shaft from Bungie's offices and wouldn't give it back.

Marty violated a non compete clause stating he was not to work on any competing sun slingshots while at Bungie.

He looked at the investment systems in Destiny and was like "WTF is this shit?"

Bungie got sick and tired of him eating all the M&Ms.

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http://www.bungie.net/7_There-are-those-who-said-this-day-would-never-come/en/News/News?aid=11484

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Huh. I guess that's that unless something else shakes out... Pretty crappy way of handling it if it is indeed true. Something of this scale would seem to demand a press release and official announcement, not a random tweet four days later and four sentences from Bungie after a storm had already been started... :/

And since when is "terminated without cause" the same as "Today, as friends, we say goodbye"?

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And since when is "terminated without cause" the same as "Today, as friends, we say goodbye"?

Since Bungie wanted to keep him, but Activision didn't. Just my guess though.

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That's actually borderline plausible :/

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That's actually borderline plausible :/

It only would be if Activision OWNED Bungie which they do NOT.

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That's actually borderline plausible :/

It only would be if Activision OWNED Bungie which they do NOT.

They pay the bills. They have the power.

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That's actually borderline plausible :/

It only would be if Activision OWNED Bungie which they do NOT.

They pay the bills.

Based on a CONTRACT. There is no way that Bungie would sign a contract that says "Oh yeah and if we decide we don't like someone at your company you have to fire them, no matter how much you like them or how long they've worked here!" If Activision tried to threaten them into firing Marty or they'd pull funding, Bungie takes them and the contract to court and wins handedly, in which case Activision executes the contract or pays huge fines.

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Unless Bungie doesn't think it's worth taking Activision to court. Contracts are meaningless without the will, or means, to enforce them.

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Unless Bungie doesn't think it's worth taking Activision to court. Contracts are meaningless without the will, or means, to enforce them.

I seriously don't think that the culture at Bungie has changed enough that they would let their arguably most famous employee go, as well as one of the most influential, because they didn't want to fight Activision. There has to be something going on with Bungie on this and pointing fingers at Activision is ridiculous when we don't even the smallest amount of proof that Activision is involved.

There's not even a precedent to believe this is true, Activision has abused it's employees, but Bungie employees are NOT Activision employees. The most I think that Activision COULD be involved in this would be if Bungie said "Hey Marty wants this much money, can we get some extra?" and Activision said no, but even THAT is a stretch when Bungie does their own budgeting.

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I seriously don't think that the culture at Bungie has changed enough that they would let their arguably most famous employee go, as well as one of the most influential, because they didn't want to fight Activision. There has to be something going on with Bungie on this and pointing fingers at Activision is ridiculous when we don't even the smallest amount of proof that Activision is involved.

Clearly, there are reasons where Bungie would let him go. And yes, pointing fingers at Activision is stupid right now. I lol'd at the "reach of Bobby Kotick" line someone else said. He's not fucking Red Skull. Lol.

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He's not fucking Red Skull. Lol.

Isn't that exactly what Red Skull would want us to think?

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He's not fucking Red Skull. Lol.

Isn't that exactly what Red Skull would want us to think?

I always thought of him as a defective Doombot.

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That's actually borderline plausible :/

It only would be if Activision OWNED Bungie which they do NOT.

I don't think Activision is as disconnected as Bungie wanted/wants us to think.

They're putting some massive amounts of cash into the franchise, and despite all the "but we're still completely autonomous" reassurances, you had better believe that Activision is keeping a close eye on where/how their money gets spent.

Bear in mind the "we may be owned by Microsoft but we're completely autonomous" reassurances from the thick of the Halo days which, while partly true, have been shown to be very overblown now that the tape is removed from a lot of mouths.

Here's the theory I'm going with:
1. Marty, something close to a genius and responsible for much of Halo's success, commands a high salary
2. Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) are getting antsy about this salary
3. Marty finishes Destiny's music (or most of it anyway)
4. Bungie (optional: at the behest of ACTV) meets with Marty to discuss compensation going forward
5. Marty asks for a lot, Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) won't give it to him
6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

I think this jibes with the disparate tones of Bungie's news post and Marty's tweet (including the "without cause" qualifier seems like something resembling bitterness).

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That's actually borderline plausible :/

It only would be if Activision OWNED Bungie which they do NOT.

I don't think Activision is as disconnected as Bungie wanted/wants us to think.

They're putting some massive amounts of cash into the franchise, and despite all the "but we're still completely autonomous" reassurances, you had better believe that Activision is keeping a close eye on where/how their money gets spent.

Bear in mind the "we may be owned by Microsoft but we're completely autonomous" reassurances from the thick of the Halo days which, while partly true, have been shown to be very overblown now that the tape is removed from a lot of mouths.

Here's the theory I'm going with:
1. Marty, something close to a genius and responsible for much of Halo's success, commands a high salary
2. Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) are getting antsy about this salary
3. Marty finishes Destiny's music (or most of it anyway)
4. Bungie (optional: at the behest of ACTV) meets with Marty to discuss compensation going forward
5. Marty asks for a lot, Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) won't give it to him
6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

I think this jibes with the disparate tones of Bungie's news post and Marty's tweet (including the "without cause" qualifier seems like something resembling bitterness).

The reach of Bobby Kotick is long and sinister indeed, but I'm refusing to believe that has anything to do with it. Mostly because if it were true, I'm not sure I'm ready to handle the implications of that.

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I don't think Activision is as disconnected as Bungie wanted/wants us to think.

They're putting some massive amounts of cash into the franchise, and despite all the "but we're still completely autonomous" reassurances, you had better believe that Activision is keeping a close eye on where/how their money gets spent.

Bear in mind the "we may be owned by Microsoft but we're completely autonomous" reassurances from the thick of the Halo days which, while partly true, have been shown to be very overblown now that the tape is removed from a lot of mouths.

Right but unless Bungie has the worst legal team ever they should have a contract that keeps it that way.

Here's the theory I'm going with:
1. Marty, something close to a genius and responsible for much of Halo's success, commands a high salary
2. Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) are getting antsy about this salary
3. Marty finishes Destiny's music (or most of it anyway)
4. Bungie (optional: at the behest of ACTV) meets with Marty to discuss compensation going forward
5. Marty asks for a lot, Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) won't give it to him
6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

I think this jibes with the disparate tones of Bungie's news post and Marty's tweet (including the "without cause" qualifier seems like something resembling bitterness).

It's not a bad theory, but Marty's wording tends to suggest he was fired not that he quit. (Not saying your wrong, just pointing it out). Either he is really bitter they didn't pay him enough or there was some kind of falling out that resulted in Bungie being willing to part with one of the most legendary video game composers of all time.

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6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

I think this jibes with the disparate tones of Bungie's news post and Marty's tweet (including the "without cause" qualifier seems like something resembling bitterness).

Yes, which is why your #6 doesn't make sense.

This is complete speculation, but it is also possible he was seen as a liability in the wake of Brendan Eich being ousted from Mozilla over his political views. Marty IS known as the most conservative one at Bungie after all, and he's supposedly pretty far to the right.

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6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

I think this jibes with the disparate tones of Bungie's news post and Marty's tweet (including the "without cause" qualifier seems like something resembling bitterness).

Yes, which is why your #6 doesn't make sense.

This is complete speculation, but it is also possible he was seen as a liability in the wake of Brendan Eich being ousted from Mozilla over his political views. Marty IS a known as the most conservative one at Bungie after all.

Too my knowledge, Marty has never made his opinions, whether positive or negative, for gender and sexual minorities public. Economics and such, yeah, but nothing so easily (and rightfully) targetable for ending employment. Conservatism doesnt necessarily equal unprogressive stances for equal rights if you're purely considering such views for the topic.

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6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

I think this jibes with the disparate tones of Bungie's news post and Marty's tweet (including the "without cause" qualifier seems like something resembling bitterness).

Yes, which is why your #6 doesn't make sense.

This is complete speculation, but it is also possible he was seen as a liability in the wake of Brendan Eich being ousted from Mozilla over his political views. Marty IS a known as the most conservative one at Bungie after all.

Too my knowledge, Marty has never made his opinions, whether positive or negative, for gender and sexual minorities public.

He has been rather vocal in his anti-abortion stance.

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Too my knowledge, Marty has never made his opinions, whether positive or negative, for gender and sexual minorities public. Economics and such, yeah, but nothing so easily (and rightfully) targetable for ending employment. Conservatism doesnt necessarily equal unprogressive stances for equal rights if you're purely considering such views for the topic.

I, for one, doubt that Marty was terminated for his political beliefs.

That said, Eich wasn't vocal about his beliefs either. He made a donation to a campaign. There was nothing he did as an executive that was discriminatory or improper.

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6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

I think this jibes with the disparate tones of Bungie's news post and Marty's tweet (including the "without cause" qualifier seems like something resembling bitterness).

Yes, which is why your #6 doesn't make sense.

This is complete speculation, but it is also possible he was seen as a liability in the wake of Brendan Eich being ousted from Mozilla over his political views. Marty IS known as the most conservative one at Bungie after all, and pretty far to the right.

There's no reason to dismiss #6 because the tweet was bitter. We don't know the amounts of money being thrown around -- what Marty was making, what Marty was expecting, or what Marty was offered. If BNG-ACTV said "thanks for the music, by the way we're cutting your salary 25%" you'd be in a situation where both (1) Marty leaves voluntarily, knowing he can get more money elsewhere, and (2) Marty is bitter about it.

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6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

I think this jibes with the disparate tones of Bungie's news post and Marty's tweet (including the "without cause" qualifier seems like something resembling bitterness).

Yes, which is why your #6 doesn't make sense.

This is complete speculation, but it is also possible he was seen as a liability in the wake of Brendan Eich being ousted from Mozilla over his political views. Marty IS known as the most conservative one at Bungie after all, and pretty far to the right.

There's no reason to dismiss #6 because the tweet was bitter. We don't know the amounts of money being thrown around -- what Marty was making, what Marty was expecting, or what Marty was offered. If BNG-ACTV said "thanks for the music, by the way we're cutting your salary 25%" you'd be in a situation where both (1) Marty leaves voluntarily, knowing he can get more money elsewhere, and (2) Marty is bitter about it.

Typically when you quit you say you quit, not that you were terminated.

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There's no reason to dismiss #6 because the tweet was bitter. We don't know the amounts of money being thrown around -- what Marty was making, what Marty was expecting, or what Marty was offered. If BNG-ACTV said "thanks for the music, by the way we're cutting your salary 25%" you'd be in a situation where both (1) Marty leaves voluntarily, knowing he can get more money elsewhere, and (2) Marty is bitter about it.

If he left voluntarily, it wouldn't be a "Bungie terminated me" situation.

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There's no reason to dismiss #6 because the tweet was bitter. We don't know the amounts of money being thrown around -- what Marty was making, what Marty was expecting, or what Marty was offered. If BNG-ACTV said "thanks for the music, by the way we're cutting your salary 25%" you'd be in a situation where both (1) Marty leaves voluntarily, knowing he can get more money elsewhere, and (2) Marty is bitter about it.

If he left voluntarily, it wouldn't be a "Bungie terminated me" situation.

Then it's up to making sense of the "we say goodbye as friends" post from Bungie.

Terminating someone for making an as-of-yet-undisclosed political contribution doesn't really seem like "saying goodbye as friends."

Maybe the meeting about Marty's salary never even happened. Maybe Activision just took a look at it and said "We're paying this one guy how much? And he's the musician? Who even cares about music? We can get a guy for 1/3 the price and only impact our sales by 0.002%" before setting the wheels in motion.

If Bungie is parting with him "as friends," I think that definitely implies money issues. Double so if ACTV is forcing them to drop him.

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned that they don't think Bungie has a board of directors. Could the "Bungie board of directors" be a snide reference to whomever is pulling the strings at Activision?

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Then it's up to making sense of the "we say goodbye as friends" post from Bungie.

I guess. What else might they have said? I don't think I've ever seen a business publicly acknowledge the termination of an employee. It's just not something that's done. The fact that Marty is such a known figure in the company is probably the only reason they acknowledged his departure at all.

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I guess. What else might they have said? I don't think I've ever seen a business publicly acknowledge the termination of an employee. It's just not something that's done.

It happens in creative industries all the time. Whenever an actor or director or even composer is let go, the studio or production company usually always releases a statement as to why.

Hell, Marvel basically said in their statement that Ed Norton was a dick, and that's why the dropped him from Avengers.

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Here's the theory I'm going with:
1. Marty, something close to a genius and responsible for much of Halo's success, commands a high salary
2. Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) are getting antsy about this salary
3. Marty finishes Destiny's music (or most of it anyway)
4. Bungie (optional: at the behest of ACTV) meets with Marty to discuss compensation going forward
5. Marty asks for a lot, Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) won't give it to him
6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

Destiny is a new franchise, with (allegedly) three sequels and three major content updates contractually agreed to be delivered over the course of the next decade. There's absolutely no way that Marty has scored enough music to cover all of that, particularly as I have to imagine the story and events of those later games hasn't been finalised yet. In short, Destiny's music couldn't possibly be ‘finished’.

No, there's something else going on here. Maybe money was a factor, but I don't buy the theory above. Interesting as it may be, I can't see the salary of one member of staff (particularly somebody so iconic as Marty O'Donnell) being reason enough to terminate somebody prematurely. To do that you have to decide that the company is better off without that person around than with them.

Personally I suspect it's political (although not for something as Orwellian as Cody suggests, with his personal political views being called into question), and I'd probably wager it's got something to do with Destiny not being as ready as it should be by now, and the beta and launch date rapidly approaching. Remember how the beta was supposed to be ‘Spring 2014’? And now it's ‘Summer 2014’…? Marty's the kind of old school guy where I suspect he's likely not to have pulled his punches (behind the scenes) if he felt the game needed more work.

Grab your popcorn guys, this one's gonna be fun.

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Here's the theory I'm going with:
1. Marty, something close to a genius and responsible for much of Halo's success, commands a high salary
2. Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) are getting antsy about this salary
3. Marty finishes Destiny's music (or most of it anyway)
4. Bungie (optional: at the behest of ACTV) meets with Marty to discuss compensation going forward
5. Marty asks for a lot, Bungie (optional: and/or ACTV) won't give it to him
6. Marty decides to leave, knowing there are any number of game studios ready to pick him up and pay him mad cash

I think this jibes with the disparate tones of Bungie's news post and Marty's tweet (including the "without cause" qualifier seems like something resembling bitterness).

According to this thread on Reddit, allegedly made by a Bungie employee, 1-5 are right; being a contractor rather than a salaried employee, they simply terminated his contract.

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According to this thread on Reddit, allegedly made by a Bungie employee, 1-5 are right; being a contractor rather than a salaried employee, they simply terminated his contract.

Yeah I am waiting for some kind of proof on this one, it does sound feasible, and would seem to be a more reasonable explanation than some that are flying around, just waiting for reddit mods to confirm if it's legit or not.

(Looks like they pulled the comment until the can confirm or deny)

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According to this thread on Reddit, allegedly made by a Bungie employee, 1-5 are right; being a contractor rather than a salaried employee, they simply terminated his contract.

Yeah I am waiting for some kind of proof on this one, it does sound feasible, and would seem to be a more reasonable explanation than some that are flying around, just waiting for reddit mods to confirm if it's legit or not.

(Looks like they pulled the comment until the can confirm or deny)

http://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=21083 <--- Post I just made refs this. For those who didn't see the reddit.

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(Looks like they pulled the comment until the can confirm or deny)

Damn, should have screen-capped it.

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It only would be if Activision OWNED Bungie which they do NOT.

I dunno. Regardless of how awesome we would like to think contracts are, I'd be surprised if Activision doesn't have a significant degree of influence in Bungie's operations.

We're talking about the sole source of income in what is easily one of the largest game development projects ever.

//=================

I'm not saying I'm convinced by Cody's suggestion, or that I think it's highly likely. What I'm saying is, if it turned out that Activision had an issue with Marty's continued employment and that that had an impact, it would not astound me.

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I dunno. Regardless of how awesome we would like to think contracts are, I'd be surprised if Activision doesn't have a significant degree of influence in Bungie's operations.

We're talking about the sole source of income in what is easily one of the largest game development projects ever.

//=================

I'm not saying I'm convinced by Cody's suggestion, or that I think it's highly likely. What I'm saying is, if it turned out that Activision had an issue with Marty's continued employment and that that had an impact, it would not astound me.

The reason I find it so ridiculous is because they would be RISKING one of the largest game development projects ever by trying to force Marty out of Bungie. Which means they either wouldn't or there would have to be a REALLY good reason why Activision took a dislike for Marty. And what would that be anyway? I honestly can't think of anything feasible that Marty could have done that would make Activision pressure Bungie into firing him, risking a very large and lucrative contract.

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I dunno. Regardless of how awesome we would like to think contracts are, I'd be surprised if Activision doesn't have a significant degree of influence in Bungie's operations.

We're talking about the sole source of income in what is easily one of the largest game development projects ever.

//=================

I'm not saying I'm convinced by Cody's suggestion, or that I think it's highly likely. What I'm saying is, if it turned out that Activision had an issue with Marty's continued employment and that that had an impact, it would not astound me.

The reason I find it so ridiculous is because they would be RISKING one of the largest game development projects ever by trying to force Marty out of Bungie. Which means they either wouldn't or there would have to be a REALLY good reason why Activision took a dislike for Marty. And what would that be anyway? I honestly can't think of anything feasible that Marty could have done that would make Activision pressure Bungie into firing him, risking a very large and lucrative contract.

Activision isn't too bright with their long term planning. See: Diablo 3.

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Activision isn't too bright with their long term planning. See: Diablo 3.

A game that two years later, is completely fresh, better than it ever was, and actually fun now? :-p

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Activision isn't too bright with their long term planning. See: Diablo 3.

A game that two years later, is completely fresh, better than it ever was, and actually fun now? :-p

And strangely, completely different from their original vision for the game. And also selling at about 10% of the pace of the core game.

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Activision isn't too bright with their long term planning. See: Diablo 3.

I'd forgotten about this kind of nonsense on this forum. Conspiracy theories gather enough momentum that eventually they're considered fact…

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The reason I find it so ridiculous is because they would be RISKING one of the largest game development projects ever by trying to force Marty out of Bungie.

Over time I start thinking that large companies have intelligent plans that carefully account for both internal operations and outward appearances.

But then stuff like Sony 2006 happens.

Or Microsoft early 2013.

I dunno.

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And since when is "terminated without cause" the same as "Today, as friends, we say goodbye"?

Since Bungie wanted to keep him, but Activision didn't. Just my guess though.

That doesn't make any sense. Activision does not OWN Bungie. Unless Marty did something specific and serious to piss Activision off Activision has no reason to even casually mention firing Marty to Bungie. Bungie decides how they make Destiny, all Activision is doing is publishing it. This isn't like a Activision and Infinity Ward case because in that case Activision OWNED Infinity Ward.

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And since when is "terminated without cause" the same as "Today, as friends, we say goodbye"?

Since Bungie wanted to keep him, but Activision didn't. Just my guess though.

That doesn't make any sense. Activision does not OWN Bungie. Unless Marty did something specific and serious to piss Activision off Activision has no reason to even casually mention firing Marty to Bungie. Bungie decides how they make Destiny, all Activision is doing is publishing it. This isn't like a Activision and Infinity Ward case because in that case Activision OWNED Infinity Ward.

Nothing makes sense in this topsy turvy world anymore Xenos.

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FWIW, an reddit post by /u/bungie_employee in r/games states it was over compensation. He wanted a higher salary, the board disagreed. He argued with a board member and a few days later, we get this tweet.

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That post is so glib its almost insulting. I guess if Jason Jones were to leave the company, we'd wish him all the best and a bright future too.

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Huh. I guess that's that unless something else shakes out... Pretty crappy way of handling it if it is indeed true. Something of this scale would seem to demand a press release and official announcement, not a random tweet four days later and four sentences from Bungie after a storm had already been started... :/

I'm guessing the post on Bungie.net was a quick response so that everything didn't spin too much out of control. Hopefully we'll get more but who knows, Bungie technically can't legally talk about why they fired Marty since it's a right to work state.

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it's a right to work state.

Washington is not a right to work state.

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Sorry, used the wrong term, Utah is a right to work state, Washington is a Employment At Will state.

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Bungie technically can't legally talk about why they fired Marty since it's a right to work state.

Washington is not a right to work state.

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Washington is not a right to work state.

Although, they probably still can't really talk about it.

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Bungie technically can't legally talk about why they fired Marty since it's a right to work state.

Washington is not a right to work state.

From what I have seen from comments in other blogs, employment and termination in Washington-based companies are "at will".

Meaning, they can terminate with no cause with no repercussions.

Can anyone confirm?

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Meaning, they can terminate with no cause with no repercussions.

Can anyone confirm?

Washington state considers a breach of good faith and fair dealing as an exception to at-will employment. So no, you can't be fired for just ANY reason in Washington.

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Many other studios would just flat out decline to comment.

Definitely makes me wonder what is happening internally though.

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And since when is "terminated without cause" the same as "Today, as friends, we say goodbye"?

Point A: It isn't. But keep in mind that those statements are from two different people. Occasionally, the same event is seen differently by different people. ;)

Point B: The B.Net post was from Deej. Unless he's moved up a LOT recently, I'm pretty sure Deej did not fire Marty.

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I had been staying dark on anything Bungie, 343, Destiny, Halo, whatever for quite a while... This news has me confused beyond belief. What the hell have I been missing? =/

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I had been staying dark on anything Bungie, 343, Destiny, Halo, whatever for quite a while... This news has me confused beyond belief. What the hell have I been missing? =/

Sadly you didn't miss anything leading up to this. This is out of the blue for all of us.

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Sadly you didn't miss anything leading up to this. This is out of the blue for all of us.

Yeah… I don't… no, I'm afraid not.

You see, this forum has a tendency to be self-supporting in its love for all things Bungie. That also means that criticism or concerns get buried under an avalanche of YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW. Sorry guys, but it's true. This is why I don't really visit DBO any more — it's just not a good place to discuss; it's an echo-chamber for the ‘EVERYTHING BUNGIE DOES IS AWESOME’ crowd.

The evidence has been there for all to see for a long time that Bungie isn't quite the company that many of us fell in love with. Think about all the people who've left; Joe Staten, Matt Soell, Jaime Griesemer, Marcus Lehto and plenty of others whose names weren't prominent enough to be noticed: many people whose hearts and souls went into the games that Bungie made for years. Also, from reading the interviews with Bungie's latest recruits, some of them have seemed relatively inexperienced.

Now, these things don't necessarily signify that Bungie is no longer a good games company: far from it. It just shows that the company has gradually, piece by piece, transformed into a different beast from the one we used to know. It's a little bit like how Apple has evolved since Steve Jobs died: for all the tabloids who love to write crap like ‘This would never have happened under Steve Jobs…!’, there is still a grain of truth to the statement: the company has to have changed, perhaps imperceptibly, but significantly nonetheless.

This forum just isn't a good place to voice the opinion that the company has changed, though: it's an unpopular opinion to air (it's essentially a source of cognitive dissonance), and so I for one have stopped trying to voice it here. I have to imagine I'm not the only one. So I imagine a casual forum-visitor here wouldn't necessarily pick up on it. That doesn't change the fact that there have been small clues that not everything was perfect at Bungie for some time now, and perhaps this is just the first time that it's manifest in a spectacular and public fashion.

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Thank you for coming out of retirement to diagnose our sickness.

I actually think a lot of us know Bungie had been changing for better or worse over the last few years, but many of us were optimistic (imagine a fan site being excited? Weird!), which often clashed with your posts that came off pretentious and cynical, like your post here, for example.

It wasn't your opinion, it was your presentation. Reading every post ever posted here, I'd say about half of the forum users here had mild to negative to worried opinions about Bungie, if not more. I found it rather depressing, actually.

So please, stick around and keep in the discussion, there's plenty of criticism to join in on, but know it was the tone of voice in posts like this that irratated people.

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Thank you for coming out of retirement to diagnose our sickness.

If the shoe fits…

Hey, I'm not posting the above to cause a scene; it's just a little bit deluding to say that ‘nobody could have seen this coming’. From your own comments it sounds like you've felt this way for a while yourself, but frankly my experience with a lot of individuals on this forum was always one of Bungie being above criticism. I'm surprised you feel it was as critical as all that.

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If the shoe fits…

Hey, I'm not posting the above to cause a scene; it's just a little bit deluding to say that ‘nobody could have seen this coming’. From your own comments it sounds like you've felt this way for a while yourself, but frankly my experience with a lot of individuals on this forum was always one of Bungie being above criticism. I'm surprised you feel it was as critical as all that.

Saying someone is deluded because their perspective doesn't fit yours would be an example, I believe, of the inflammatory tone/style that led to your lack of healthy responses here.

But I am one of these deluded, so don't put too much stock in my thoughts.

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Saying someone is deluded because their perspective doesn't fit yours would be an example, I believe, of the inflammatory tone/style that led to your lack of healthy responses here.

I don't agree that's inflammatory — that's just pointing out a simple fact. If you are labouring under the impression that nobody could have predicted this, when in actual fact a number of people thought there were problems and made that clear a long time ago then that's more or less the definition of being deluded.

I don't think there's any need for characterising yours or the wider forum-goer that way though; that's just a means of seeking to appear injured when you weren't the specific target of a remark. I don't think most people here are deluded, although I do think that a lot of DBO regulars have a rose-tinted view of Bungie, based on their favourable experiences in the past, that prevents them seeing harsh truths right in front of them.

In any case, it wasn't my tone that people were responding to in the last thread I participated in before deciding my time was better spent elsewhere — it was a common occurrence of point-by-point fisking, where people seek to appear correct regardless of whether it's important in the bigger picture. In my experience, if you don't like somebody's tone, you seek to avoid them.

Anyway, I don't think this is going anywhere productive, and based on Kermit's reply elsewhere I'm about as unwelcome as ever. Have fun.

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You're welcome here, but I'm not going to deny that I find your posts as predictable as you find mine.

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I don't agree that's inflammatory — that's just pointing out a simple fact. If you are labouring under the impression that nobody could have predicted this, when in actual fact a number of people thought there were problems and made that clear a long time ago then that's more or less the definition of being deluded.

Hmm? I never said no one could predict this; people can predict anything. I'm saying that the people who are shocked by today's news because their views did not align with your prophecies are not deluded. And while you may not have intended it to be inflammatory, that does not mean a comment cannot come across that way. Just generalizing a forum, forgoing all the individuals with their own unique opinions, tends to be inflammatory alone for me.

I don't think there's any need for characterising yours or the wider forum-goer that way though; that's just a means of seeking to appear injured when you weren't the specific target of a remark. I don't think most people here are deluded, although I do think that a lot of DBO regulars have a rose-tinted view of Bungie, based on their favourable experiences in the past, that prevents them seeing harsh truths right in front of them.

I was not seeking to appear injured. It only appeared that way because I was offended. While I might not have been a "specific target" of your remark, your generalizations cast a wide net.

My own cynical generalizations lean the other way from yours. For me, most of these forums seem full of constant complaints and criticisms of Bungie - so much to the fact, some days I have no interest in coming here and it feels like some people have the opposite-of-rose-tinted glasses, heh. :)

In any case, it wasn't my tone that people were responding to in the last thread I participated in before deciding my time was better spent elsewhere — it was a common occurrence of point-by-point fisking, where people seek to appear correct regardless of whether it's important in the bigger picture. In my experience, if you don't like somebody's tone, you seek to avoid them.

Indeed, many were not responding directly to your tone. What I'm trying to say, which is what I tried to says then as well, is that I believe your tone is part of the spark, the reason, you incite a negative response to your criticism. I think your bulletin points, with a different tone, would generate a much different kind of discussion.

Anyway, I don't think this is going anywhere productive, and based on Kermit's reply elsewhere I'm about as unwelcome as ever. Have fun.

I didn't enjoy this. :/

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Thank you for coming out of retirement to diagnose our sickness.

If the shoe fits…

Hey, I'm not posting the above to cause a scene; it's just a little bit deluding to say that ‘nobody could have seen this coming’. From your own comments it sounds like you've felt this way for a while yourself, but frankly my experience with a lot of individuals on this forum was always one of Bungie being above criticism. I'm surprised you feel it was as critical as all that.

I think you are right. I've been saying since ODST that Bungie had irreparably changed as a studio, and I started to feel it after Halo 3 but not as strongly. That argument was always dismissed. Even when Matt left. Even when Alex left. Even when Marcus left. Even when Joe left. Even when Jamie left.

I think now it's just at the point where it cannot be ignored anymore.

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Times change.

Bungie isn't the small indi studio it was in the 90's. It's a full blown company. It's grown. People got scared when Microsoft got involved, and it turned out to be a good thing. Time will tell if it remains a good thing.

It's too early to tell with the current parties involved.

On HBO, I'm probably seen by some as a rose colored glasses guy these days- I'm not. I just choose to be positive because it's too easy to be negative.

So on one point, I agree with Levi.

But I also agree with Kap on some points too, which is why I don't frequent DBO much at present.

But this is big news today.

News of this nature was sure to elicit an emotional response, both from the "Bungie can do no wrong" crowd and the "You've changed, man!\things ain't as good as they used to be" crowd.

The key, will be keeping to the middle and wading through the hype, as it always should be.

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Times change.

Bungie isn't the small indi studio it was in the 90's. It's a full blown company. It's grown. People got scared when Microsoft got involved, and it turned out to be a good thing. Time will tell if it remains a good thing.

It's too early to tell with the current parties involved.

On HBO, I'm probably seen by some as a rose colored glasses guy these days- I'm not. I just choose to be positive because it's too easy to be negative.

So on one point, I agree with Levi.

But I also agree with Kap on some points too, which is why I don't frequent DBO much at present.

But this is big news today.

News of this nature was sure to elicit an emotional response, both from the "Bungie can do no wrong" crowd and the "You've changed, man!\things ain't as good as they used to be" crowd.

The key, will be keeping to the middle and wading through the hype, as it always should be.

I've been reading "Bungie has gone to pot" posts since the Marathon 2 days, when Bungie released a Windows version. And there's a big difference in believing Bungie can do no wrong, and believing that Bungie can and will do something great and not buying into cynicism. Every Bungie game has been better than the last in some significant way. From that perspective I remain hopeful, but that belief has depended on a few constants. Today one of those constants has been removed, so I'm upset, as is everyone else. It's a setback, though, and doesn't have to be perceived as a nail in a coffin. There are some who seem to enjoy undercutting others' enthusiasm. I find it tempting with the present state of the Halo franchise myself. It's not constructive. This is a little different. No one here has seen seen what the present incarnation of Bungie can do. There's no harm is hoping for the best. This forum is in place for us to share our hopes and our fears. I have no problem with that. What I don't enjoy is the glee I see some seem to take in pissing in others' cornflakes. See, I'm right, you're wrong--that kind of crap.

EDIT: Okay, I won't say ONI was better than the Myth or Marathon series, but it did have a fantastic gameplay mechanic (think Arkham Asylum nine years earlier).

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EDIT: Okay, I won't say ONI was better than the Myth or Marathon series, but it did have a fantastic gameplay mechanic (think Arkham Asylum nine years earlier).

It's all because they cut multiplayer. It would have been a phenomenon. ;)

I have been brimming with hope for what would turn out to be Destiny since the end of Halo 2. And I continue to be.

But this truly is heartbreaking. Come what may; the world isn't--in fact--ending, though.

And hey, we all know nothing lasts forever. I'm grateful for what we've heard. I can't wait to hear what Marty does next, and what the New Bingle will sound like.

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I think you are right. I've been saying since ODST that Bungie had irreparably changed as a studio, and I started to feel it after Halo 3 but not as strongly. That argument was always dismissed. Even when Matt left. Even when Alex left. Even when Marcus left. Even when Joe left. Even when Jamie left.

I think now it's just at the point where it cannot be ignored anymore.

Except that there's more than one way to interpret this thread of events.

Your feelings, which I'm not saying are not valid from your perspective, seem to align with the Bungie games you have a lower opinion of, if I'm not mistaken.

I think it makes a sort of sense then that many of the people who were enjoying the games that you disliked (Halo 3 and ODST are my favorites, for example) were probably the ones most active in a fan forum at the time, and probably couldn't find your comments relatable, because to them, Bungie was on top of their game.

Now your outlook is using these departures as a sign of what went wrong with the games you disliked, and this latest incident now serves as a concrete seal of approval.

I'm not saying this is wrong, but other folks with different outlooks and opinions have probably colored these events differently, with this latest departure being quite a shock, since it is a circumstance different from the rest, and they likely do not see it as proof that Bungie has been slowly dying since Halo 2.

The truth though, I think, is that none of us really know what we're talking about, in terms of Bungie's inner-workings and culture, except those who were there, inside, first-hand.

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I think it makes a sort of sense then that many of the people who were enjoying the games that you disliked (Halo 3 and ODST are my favorites, for example)

For the record I enjoyed Halo 3 a lot. It was just a little bit of a dip in terms of quality.

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I think it makes a sort of sense then that many of the people who were enjoying the games that you disliked (Halo 3 and ODST are my favorites, for example)

For the record I enjoyed Halo 3 a lot. It was just a little bit of a dip in terms of quality.

Which is when you first got an inkling of something going wrong with Bungie, right? That kind of works perfectly with my theory - a theory that applies to me as well, of course. I tend to want to color an artist or band or studio's culture and health a certain way depending on what I thought of their project. I didn't care for Halo 4, for example, and afterwards I started to make all these cynical assumptions about the studio's culture and Microsoft's greedy influences, etc., which just happens to fit rather more nicely with my opinion of the game, doesn't it?

Perhaps 343i were united and felt like a team on top of everything, though. Maybe that band who's third album I didn't like felt as if they were making their magnum opus!

That's all I'm trying to say: I think everyone is at least a little guilty of trying to align their view of a creator or creators with their experiences with their creation, if that makes sense. When something isn't as good, a person wants to use any possible drama (and if none, create some), to help explain why that thing isn't as good. Or perhaps we do it just make things a little more tidy in our brain.

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I gotta say, Levi, I am admiring this objectivity.

Maintaining that kind of perspective is not an easy or natural thing, especially not when emotional things like this happen.

You've really thought things through well and then have also articulated them well.

Kudos. :)

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The opinion is pretty trash too. If kapo is so in tune with how Bungie has changed, why didn't he see Marty's departure coming? Which you know was Xenos' point: this is out of the blue, Bungie fanboi or otherwise.

But hey axes to grind I guess.

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Sorry, I just have to point out that noticing Bungie was changing is not nearly the same thing as being able to predict that Marty would get fired. As far as I know, there really wasn't any indication that this was going to happen, so Xenos's quote was correct.

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I had been staying dark on anything Bungie, 343, Destiny, Halo, whatever for quite a while... This news has me confused beyond belief. What the hell have I been missing? =/

You missed nothing.

This news has everyone confused beyond belief.

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From the people behind Halo, the company that brought you Call of Duty, and the folks who fired Marty O'donnell.

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you bastard - you know I'm going to hear that in my head every time I see an add now. I wonder if this will have a negative impact on Destiny. You know people will be talking about it, Bungie's kind of a big deal.

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I wonder if this will have a negative impact on Destiny. You know people will be talking about it, Bungie's kind of a big deal.

We're in the year of launch and I still hear nobody talking about it. About the only ‘news’ I hear about the game nowadays are Bungie's empty ‘weakly updates’ and their pathetic ‘here, look at a 12 month old screenshot!’ tweets with such nuggets of astonishing insight as ‘Did you know: YOU HAVE A MAP?’.

This firing is probably the biggest Bungie news in years.

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I mean, why? Just... why? One of the greatest games music composers ever, and he's just sacked from the company he's been working with for over a decade and a half. This is a bigger shock than the Undertaker's streak ending. I feel just like that one dude in the WrestleMania crowd who's now a meme. And Patrick.

[image]

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We fought for the Marty Army at the Bungie fanfest that year (and lost horribly but that's beside the point). That was twelve years ago. Marty is one of the reasons I decided to pursue a career in music. This man is a legend. How the fuck did this happen?

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He had the same effect on me. I'm in school for game audio because of the influence his work had on me growing up.

We all like to think that the things we love will be around forever. Unfortunately, life doesn't work this way. People come and go, and Bungie is a company made up of people. Feelings change, disagreements are had. 20 years is a damn long time to be doing anything. It's shocking, sure. I dreamed I'd be working under Marty's direction one day. Things won't be the same from now on, and they might not be as good without him, but that's part of what we accept by paying such close attention.

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...

I literally just learned about it. I don't think I have made a double take like that in a LOOOONG time.

I was able to meet Marty during HaloFEST and was very impressed by not only is casual professionalism but willingness to sign every scrap of content I pushed at him. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. Not everyone who I met that day I can say of this.

As it is I shall hold my tongue. There is more afoot here in the video games business then we know.

All in all... I wish Mr. Marty O'Donnell all the very best. Thanks for all the memory man - I can't say that enough.

(I do not envy DeeJ and his job right now. I don't think it a stretch to say that this will make this side (Us) of his job a bit harder to work with right now. I can only imagine the PMs.)

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I've seen this being batted around this morning. No idea if it has anything to do with why he was let go (I'm still holding onto hope that it's an elaborate hoax).

http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/1/24/3908184/heart-of-bungie-destiny-jason-jones-marty-odonnell-halo

They try to slip it past us the way they try to slip it past themselves, but we notice and so do they. There's another person who gets an office. Actually, his whole team works apart, secluded down a corridor. Partly because of the nature of their work, it's true. But also in part because out of a team of semi-anonymous team players, he's the only famous one.

It's not Marty O'Donnell's fault, really. Games take a team to orchestrate. Music doesn't. And then there's the awards. Don't forget the awards. He can't really be faulted for that either. He didn't award them to himself. That Rolling Stone (among others) considered his work the best example of video game soundtracking in history can't be laid at his feet, really. What was he supposed to do? Make less amazing music?

Marty O'Donnell in his Ivory Tower Still, it irks. Everyone plays nice, for sure. Bungie is, after all, a workplace and a team and a good one of both. There is no rancor. Not out where we can see it anyway, but I get a whiff of it here and there. I can smell the irk.

"One of the things that I think really gets [Bungie co-founder] Jason Jones's goat sometimes is that there is still one person who can make a contribution that's outsized, and that's Marty O'Donnell," Chris Butcher tells us. "There's only one composer."

O'Donnell's studio has been given the moniker "Ivory Tower." As we enter the upstairs production area, Parsons makes a point of pointing out that O'Donnell will frequently come down from his tower to circulate amongst the troops (he calls it "driving his coffee cup around the room"). We watch O'Donnell. He catches shit from the troops, then stops over to say hello, coffee cup in hand. He's in good spirits. Then again, he can afford to be. He's the one with the awards.

Harold Ryan tries to put a damper on the irk. As studio manager, he's the peacemaker, and he explains that the music is simply easier to "see" than the other parts of the game.

"You can do this with movies and you can do it with games," Ryan says. "You can turn the audio off and play it, and then you can turn the audio on. It's the only thing you can turn on and off and actually compare what it's like with and without. It's something that stands out the easiest from a contrast point of view."

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I've been looking for this all morning- it was the 2nd thing that came to my mind after the Halo 2 disc content. Thanks for finding it.

I think this probably hits the nail on the head.

Not necessarily from BUNGIE, but its backers or the people with the money.

When a company gets bought out, or there is a merger, what typically happens? Management and executive level employees from the company getting bought out are given the axe. This is typical because the parent company wants to get their people in places where direction will change to the lower levels, and also to get rid of expensive positions that may not be needed, or to get rid of people who had been in so long with the company that they were making massive amounts of money just from tenure.

I'm not saying that is what happened here- I'm saying it's worth a thought or something to draw a parallel from.

Marty holds a lot of impact on Bungie's products and is worth a lot of money, thus he has to be paid a lot of money. When one person holds that kind of power in a business setting, well, lets just leave it at there are some people who don't like that, and those are usually the people who sign the checks.

Sad day.

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I read a great book recently on the history and inner workings of Glock. Glock USA was built up in the late 80s by a guy named Karl Walter. He was a genius at marketing the pistols and made Gaston Glock a fortune. Unfortunately, he was overshadowing Gaston, and Glock didn't like that. Plus the other employees in Austria were very jealous of how much he was making based on his commission for each pistol sold. Gaston Glock ended up firing him in the early 90s. Karl Walter was a victim of his own success.

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A couple of years ago, 82-year-old Gaston sacked his wife and bought a newer version.

[image]

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Excuse me while I go racing through the internet to find the one picture I'm thinking of...

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I think she managed his horse farm. If you know what I mean. ;)

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I think she managed his horse farm. If you know what I mean. ;)

I think we got to give Gaston some credit. After eighty two years of good use, most firearms won't feed or cycle reliably, but he doesn't seem to be having any problems. Heck, most Glocks won't last even half of that!

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I've seen this being batted around this morning. No idea if it has anything to do with why he was let go (I'm still holding onto hope that it's an elaborate hoax).

http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/1/24/3908184/heart-of-bungie-destiny-jason-jones-marty-odonnell-halo

You know, that's really interesting, and that may or may not be a factor, but I've kind of always thought Marty was pretty arrogant ever since he started appearing in things and giving interviews after Halo. If it rubbed ME the wrong way, I can imagine what it would be like up at Bungie HQ…

It's stupid but I understand it. I've seen producers angry at the influence a director can have. I've seen directors angry at the influence an editor can have. It's stupid because everybody should want the best thing regardless of whose idea it was. A lot of people I know work very collaboratively and with little ego, and it's great. But tons don't, because a lot of people hate to give credit. Then there's people in the middle who welcome your creative input in private, but take credit for it in public.

Kind of hard to take credit for the music unless you are Marty or Michael.

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I think this subthread is important because it brings up that possibility.

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That is...amazingly prescient. That, plus the video from Halo 2 that Revenant linked. It's starting to sound like there was a clash of egos at the top.

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From the Halo 2 limited edition disc

And I want you to think about what this comment meant in 2004, and what it could mean today. Because I have a feeling that someone high on the ladder did, and didn't like that one person could hold such....power(?), influence or impact on the final product.

There's nothing I can really add to this thread, but I do agree that money probably came into play from at least one party.

You can watch the whole Marty segment starting at about this point.

Bottom line: This is a sad day for any Bunige fans past and present.

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It's blocked in the UK. Any chance of a tl;dr?

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It's blocked in the UK. Any chance of a tl;dr?

Sure. The first link, this is the important line:

(Jason Jones:) "Marty's pretty amazing. Marty makes pretty much everything we do twice as good,and that makes me really angry because he's just about the only individual who has that level of contribution to the team. But I would never say that to him."

Granted, Jones has a smile on his face when he says this (It's done in jest) but there is truth to the words.

The second link is the whole music interview segment that should just be re-watched, period.

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This is reminding me a bit of a firing/resigning that was a hot topic in a different enthusiast community I lurk in:

Ohio Supreme Court hears argument between Cedar Point parent company former employee

Basically what happened there was a heated conversation occurred between the head guy and what was basically his right hand man, and the head guy said he resigned while the guy maintained he was fired. Perhaps not exactly the same situation, as don't have any more details regarding Marty, but it seems conceivable that the same type of boil-over argument may have occurred, especially given the unusual timing. While it seemed everything was going great, perhaps this was a long time coming. How many groups maintain this type of success for this long and stick together? Look at successful rock bands, sports teams. It seems like eventually there's a dispute over credit that causes parties to go elsewhere, either of their own accord or otherwise, often with significant acrimony. I sincerely hope that any harmed parties can reconcile, but I highly doubt it will be any time soon.

Speculation aside, I'd like to express my appreciation for Marty's music (as well as his sound work). That was a huge part of what made me get into Halo, despite having almost no prior interest in video games. I remember playing Halo 2 in my basement back in high school one night, and my mom came in the room to grab some sewing stuff. I was just sitting in the menu, and she commented, "Wow, this music is really nice." It is universally great stuff that will stand the test of time.

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All this made me do was look at Frankie, Marcus, Marty, Joe, Paul, Jaime, Jason, and Harold, and say to myself, "Wow, look at how young they all look."

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I'm sitting here simply in shock. I honestly don't know what to say. Naturally there are two sides to every story but until we know the truth I'm shocked as hell. It's freaking Marty. We're not talking some newbie just brought in. We're talking Marty Freaking O'Donnell.

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"Music of the Spheres" will now become the Holy Grail of video game music, much like the Beach Boys' "Smile" was for years.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=appVBqRGoAc

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"Music of the Spheres" will now become the Holy Grail of video game music, much like the Beach Boys' "Smile" was for years.

I've been thinking, I wonder if musical control was a big issue. I wonder if Activision wouldn't let Marty/Bungie release bits and pieces to the community as they wanted. I mean, how long have we waited for Music of the Spheres? And it's just kind of disappeared from the radar. I can see Marty really being unhappy about stuff like that and voicing a strong opinion - which might give them even more ammo to let him go.

I doubt that's the case, but it has played in my mind since I first heard the news.

And oh btw, his daughter posted a response to the Bungie article. It's a good read if you haven't already.

- CC

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And oh btw, his daughter posted a response to the Bungie article. It's a good read if you haven't already.

- CC

User name?

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And oh btw, his daughter posted a response to the Bungie article. It's a good read if you haven't already.

- CC

User name?

Christicake I believe.

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And oh btw, his daughter posted a response to the Bungie article. It's a good read if you haven't already.

- CC

User name?

Christicake I believe.

Yep

-Also-

In the replys there was this post. Since we have nothing to go off of, this at least gives a possible direction of how things may have occurred. Don't forget to add the salt. The source as of this posting is sketch.

"...A verbal argument ensued recently between Marty and a member of the board. Shortly there after he was let go. So there was certainly 'cause' but one that a lot of us felt could be worked through. But money talks. The board feels they can get someone for cheaper, and without the drama, that will have a better ROI. ..."

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I am shocked, as all you are.

Just saw this tweet from Jamie.
https://twitter.com/32nds/status/456434681643155458

@MartyTheElder "Destiny - from the creators of Halo (that we didn't fire.)"

Hard to say that doesn't raise a few questions.

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I am shocked, as all you are.

Just saw this tweet from Jamie.
https://twitter.com/32nds/status/456434681643155458

@MartyTheElder "Destiny - from the creators of Halo (that we didn't fire.)"

Hard to say that doesn't raise a few questions.

I don't think Griesemer is implying that he himself was fired, if that's what you're suggesting. I think he's acknowledging the ramifications of what everyone knows. O'Donnell was a marketable asset for Bungie.

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Well it does imply to me more than one "firing", perhaps not all were so direct, the way it is written it makes it sound like multiple.

But again, that's a perspective based in looking for a bigger story, whether there is one or not.

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I am shocked, as all you are.

Just saw this tweet from Jamie.
https://twitter.com/32nds/status/456434681643155458

@MartyTheElder "Destiny - from the creators of Halo (that we didn't fire.)"

Hard to say that doesn't raise a few questions.

http://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=21051

Posted 6 hours earlier :-p

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...but I'd like to believe that Bungie, especially from Deej's choice of words on B.Net, is still on Marty's side, and that this could possibly be an issue with Bungie or Activision that could be worked out, and not a 'sky is falling' sign of the apocalypse that some might suggest.

This news just happened. I'd like to wait and see what happens next before falling into wild conjecture.

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Wow. Heartbreaking news. The man worked with Sir Paul for christ's sake! Hope he brings equally great music to other great franchises (or even great movies?).

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If Marty had left, I wouldn't have any doubts but firing Marty makes me doubt Bungie's future. I'm really looking forward to Destiny, but I almost want to cancel my pre-order because I don't trust a company that would fire Marty. If Marty isn't doing the audio for whatever game follows Destiny you can be I won't be buying it.

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If Marty had left, I wouldn't have any doubts but firing Marty makes me doubt Bungie's future. I'm really looking forward to Destiny, but I almost want to cancel my pre-order because I don't trust a company that would fire Marty. If Marty isn't doing the audio for whatever game follows Destiny you can be I won't be buying it.

I'm just as bewildered and sad as anyone else, but let's not give Marty ALL the credit. Jay Weinland is still there as far as I know, and to me it wasn't JUST the music that made the audio special.

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If Marty had left, I wouldn't have any doubts but firing Marty makes me doubt Bungie's future. I'm really looking forward to Destiny, but I almost want to cancel my pre-order because I don't trust a company that would fire Marty. If Marty isn't doing the audio for whatever game follows Destiny you can be I won't be buying it.

I'm not sure about cancel my pre-order time, or jump off the ship. Marty was awesome, still is. But he's one guy, and one man can make the difference, but one man can not do it alone. Let's not sell all the other devs short on what they can do, with or without Marty.

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If Marty had left, I wouldn't have any doubts but firing Marty makes me doubt Bungie's future. I'm really looking forward to Destiny, but I almost want to cancel my pre-order because I don't trust a company that would fire Marty. If Marty isn't doing the audio for whatever game follows Destiny you can be I won't be buying it.

I'm not sure about cancel my pre-order time, or jump off the ship. Marty was awesome, still is. But he's one guy, and one man can make the difference, but one man can not do it alone. Let's not sell all the other devs short on what they can do, with or without Marty.

Aye, and likely this first Destiny will still be full of his work - and who knows, maybe this issue will be resolved? This is still the ground zero of this news!

So far I'd say the worst part of this break-up is just seeing everyone's wild conjectures across the internet and the obscene ability for so many to somehow know what the culture inside Bungie Studios is like. Perhaps there was a breakout of telepathy and precognition?

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So far I'd say the worst part of this break-up is just seeing everyone's wild conjectures across the internet and the obscene ability for so many to somehow know what the culture inside Bungie Studios is like. Perhaps there was a breakout of telepathy and precognition?

It's just fun to speculate. Long time Bungie fans would know that's what the community does best :-p
Usually it's about the story, but we work with what we have.

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It's just fun to speculate. Long time Bungie fans would know that's what the community does best :-p
Usually it's about the story, but we work with what we have.

Aye, I guess there just hasn't been much story speculation for quite some time (which was why I started posting on HBO a decade ago) due to the nature of one story ending and another beginning, so I've gotten rather tired of the other kind of speculation. :)

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There aren't many people in this world that more thoroughly enjoy Mr. O'Donnell's wickedly engaging cacophony of Dorian and Lydian Modes weaved amongst polyrhythms and secondary dominants, but let's remember before we pull the preverbal trigger on a full boycott, that Destiny is STILL, without a doubt, going to be a monumental title that will inevitably shape the course of Next-Gen gaming, and while music and the unique creative genius behind the music thus far has been and will continue to be vital, the actual Destiny gaming experience, even devoid of tear-inducing melodies and awe-inspiring harmonic series, will not fail to be Legendary.

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There aren't many people in this world that more thoroughly enjoy Mr. O'Donnell's wickedly engaging cacophony of Dorian and Lydian Modes weaved amongst polyrhythms and secondary dominants, but let's remember before we pull the preverbal trigger on a full boycott, that Destiny is STILL, without a doubt, going to be a monumental title that will inevitably shape the course of Next-Gen gaming, and while music and the unique creative genius behind the music thus far has been and will continue to be vital, the actual Destiny gaming experience, even devoid of tear-inducing melodies and awe-inspiring harmonic series, will not fail to be Legendary.

I personally feel that the decision to fire Marty was such a poor decision that it likely reflects poor decision making in general.

Bungie has not shown us much. Much of the hype I myself had was based off of the expectation that they have done great things in the past. With many of the people responsible for those great things leaving or being fired, I do not anticipate that the choices being made to develop this game are sound.

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There aren't many people in this world that more thoroughly enjoy Mr. O'Donnell's wickedly engaging cacophony of Dorian and Lydian Modes weaved amongst polyrhythms and secondary dominants, but let's remember before we pull the preverbal trigger on a full boycott, that Destiny is STILL, without a doubt, going to be a monumental title that will inevitably shape the course of Next-Gen gaming, and while music and the unique creative genius behind the music thus far has been and will continue to be vital, the actual Destiny gaming experience, even devoid of tear-inducing melodies and awe-inspiring harmonic series, will not fail to be Legendary.

I personally feel that the decision to fire Marty was such a poor decision that it likely reflects poor decision making in general.

Bungie has not shown us much. Much of the hype I myself had was based off of the expectation that they have done great things in the past. With many of the people responsible for those great things leaving or being fired, I do not anticipate that the choices being made to develop this game are sound.

Unfortunately, I would personally have to disagree with you on almost everything you just said... there is actually an overwhelming wealth of knowledge about this game spread across the internet in many different forms, sometimes even close to too much detail in some cases; Have you seen the GI spread? What about the GDC Vault vid? and the 40+ min video from DestinyUpdates? Have you been living under a rock? lol no offense intended.

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Unfortunately, I would personally have to disagree with you on almost everything you just said... there is actually an overwhelming wealth of knowledge about this game spread across the internet in many different forms, sometimes even close to too much detail in some cases; Have you seen the GI spread? What about the GDC Vault vid? and the 40+ min video from DestinyUpdates? Have you been living under a rock? lol no offense intended.

Most people expect the kind of information we get about a new Halo game (since that's the only reference a lot of people have). Most people on the forums haven't been through a new product release. Everyone go back and dig up how much stuff was shown about Halo 5 months before release, you'll see the level of information is similar (maybe even favoring Destiny for more information).

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In response to you both, I'm not complaining about the lack of information. I've been ok with it because in all honesty, I want to be relatively dark.

The problem is that Bungie's decisions on actually story material and gameplay choices, etc. have been shrouded in much mystery.

This bit of news is the LARGEST piece of news out of the company since Halo: Reach released, in my opinion. For it to be so negative does not bode well.

This product has not shipped yet and the greats of Bungie are already leaving. As much as one could attribute the work to getting the series off the ground and leaving the future to the company, Marty's job is one that is done PER GAME. To let him go is to doom the series' music and frankly, Marty's music and Joe Staten's story work was 50% of the reason I loved Bungie.

They are now gone.

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In response to you both, I'm not complaining about the lack of information. I've been ok with it because in all honesty, I want to be relatively dark.

The problem is that Bungie's decisions on actually story material and gameplay choices, etc. have been shrouded in much mystery.

This bit of news is the LARGEST piece of news out of the company since Halo: Reach released, in my opinion. For it to be so negative does not bode well.

This product has not shipped yet and the greats of Bungie are already leaving. As much as one could attribute the work to getting the series off the ground and leaving the future to the company, Marty's job is one that is done PER GAME. To let him go is to doom the series' music and frankly, Marty's music and Joe Staten's story work was 50% of the reason I loved Bungie.

They are now gone.

That is exactly how I feel.

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Heh. Must have been. It's annoying me to no end seeing people declare who is right, declaring boycotts, and declaring doom all based on one short tweet and four short sentences that came in reply. The truth of it is we have no idea what happened or where the blame should go or if it should even go anywhere.

If I'm disappointed in anyone right now it's the Bungie community for going full pants on head crazy based on so little followed closely by both Marty and Bungie for dropping this news on us like this.

*sigh*

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Heh. Must have been. It's annoying me to no end seeing people declare who is right, declaring boycotts, and declaring doom all based on one short tweet and four short sentences that came in reply. The truth of it is we have no idea what happened or where the blame should go or if it should even go anywhere.

If I'm disappointed in anyone right now it's the Bungie community for going full pants on head crazy based on so little followed closely by both Marty and Bungie for dropping this news on us like this.

To be fair, I think most people are thinking of it in terms of how this will impact future games. Most people here have not met Marty, but everybody here was affected by his contributions to Bungie's games.

I think it's entirely reasonable to wonder whom they are getting to replace him in the future, and if that person will be as good.

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I know that this stuff is second by second - but part of me wonders how bad things have to be to dictate an on the spot firing of someone who is basically an icon in the Bungie lexicon instead of the two weeks. Perhaps I'm out of the loop and on the spot is how things go now a days.

After that - all I have to post is this:

I think this sums up the fans/Internets reaction nicely.

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That line, and a short paragraph, is what you get when you're canned at my company. Usually you're terrible at your job in general, terrible in some specific catastrophic way, or did something insanely stupid. Except for the latter obviously, it's usually a long time coming and few people are surprised.

Based on my experience, Bungie's post reads like that ALL. DAY. LONG.

We may never know what happened, and likely never know in a way approaching objectivity.

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https://twitter.com/martytheelder/status/456303189998841856

I usually have a metaphor or a simple anecdote to describe my reaction to bad news, but I can't find one with this news.

I don't know the specifics and I won't bother to read or comment on the rumors that will come. I will say, thank you Marty for creating the greatest game music I have ever experienced. I look forward to hearing your music in the future.

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I don't know the specifics and I won't bother to read or comment on the rumors that will come. I will say, thank you Marty for creating the greatest game music I have ever experienced. I look forward to hearing your music in the future.

I will sorely miss his incredible music and contributions in BUNGiE's future games. His will always be some of my all time favorite music, video game or otherwise, and I too look forward to whatever he does in the future.

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...but maybe I did though. :P

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Indeed.

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From on a user on Bnet called "Christicake":

"I don't even know everything that happened, I just know that I've closely observed Bungie shift and change dramatically over the last decade. Cool thing though, my dad has been consistent. He has consistently worked hard and consistently cared about making the player experience as cool as possible.

Many times I would come home from school and he would be testing out a video game, making notes on what he liked and didn't like, or even in the middle of developing a theory on how things could be improved for the player. I've seen him do extensive research on how music affects emotions and I know he always adds in little details that are important. My dad is a brilliant video game producer and music composer/producer. This change will not ever change who he is, because from the beginning he has always been consistent; that is one thing I know about my dad. Oh, and he loves the fans, that is another thing. I'm in tears reading about how his music affected people's lives. Thank you to the bnet community and halo music fans <3 *Edit: As requested, I've sent this to my dad, so he will be reading the responses.*"

Can anyone confirm whether or not this is Marty's actual daughter? And if so, go over to Bnet and leave a reply showing Marty some LOVE!!!

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It is. Matching twitter handle is her.

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It is.

She's also one of the few people that Marty is following on his Bnet account + Twitter.

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Thanks fellas. Let's get over there to that thread and show Marty some love people!

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Definitely not what I was expecting to see today.

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Lots being said about this. The power of music, amirite?

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Lots being said about this. The power of music, amirite?

Yes, you're right. Enough words.

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Lots being said about this. The power of music, amirite?

Yes, you're right. Enough words.

Damn you, Kermit. It's dusty in here.

- CC

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Just when I thought Irrational's closure would be the most disappointing news I heard out of the gaming industry this year.

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I need time to think, so for now I'll just repost what I wrote on Twitter:

With friends on both sides, it feels wrong to speculate.
Marty is still Marty.
Bungie is still Bungie.
The future is still bright. Destiny!

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I need time to think, so for now I'll just repost what I wrote on Twitter:

With friends on both sides, it feels wrong to speculate.
Marty is still Marty.
Bungie is still Bungie.
The future is still bright. Destiny!

Well said!

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So I've been sitting on this. Reading. Digesting. Contemplating. It's just so weird.

Bungie hasn't really released, well, anything regarding Destiny aside from a bunch of pics of guns and knives and whatnot. A commercial here and there. E3. But as a whole, not much of anything substantive beyond the awesome interviews GameInformer put out.

But what has really been building a lot of excitement? What's really been fascinating to read? Sir Paul McCartney. How the music is being created. Marty interviews. E3 music demo. MP3 teases/releases. Would Bungie--actually, could Bungie have even managed to get Paul McCartney without Marty? Would it have even been a thought?

Even if whatever has been contributed to Destiny by Paul McCartney ends up not being all that significant, the fact that his name is attached to it at all absolutely bumped the press, marketing, and appeal/interest to broader markets.

I really, really wonder how this impacts Bungie going forward, even in the immediate Destiny future. Hell, even beyond Destiny.

Obviously I don't know why Marty's gone. No one here seems to know right now, either. Maybe something will get elaborated upon somewhere by someone at some point.

All I know is that it's been an amazing more than a decade of having Marty's work really influence and impact me, and he'll absolutely be missed by myself and many others all over when it comes to Bungie titles. I truly wish him the best and brightest of futures, even while holding on to what's likely a nonexistent possibility of him returning to Bungie.

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I probably listen to something Marty has created just about every day. I hope that he lands somewhere awesome.

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Halo 1-3 have had some of the best music I've ever heard in a video game. It is poignant, and relevant to every scene it is in. It's also the only game music my Dad has ever wandered into the basement and asked about.

That Marty is talented is without question. That he could have a blow up with management and get kicked out is also believable. I've seen it happen before at startups and larger corporations. He is the old hand, the experienced one, with the trophies and accolades to back that up; but he's also in a room with others who are equally old hands, and when money is tight and stress is high the powers that be will cut him lose. And don't believe for a moment stress isn't high. Bungie's continued existence as a studio hinges on Destiny being a wild success. I've seen estimates that Halo 3 cost 30 million to create. Destiny is a much larger project with a larger price tag.

Hopefully things will cool down and they can get back together, but at this point it the relationship may be too damaged to recover.

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Hopefully things will cool down and they can get back together, but at this point it the relationship may be too damaged to recover.

After Marty's tweet, I would say so.

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That Marty is talented is without question. That he could have a blow up with management and get kicked out is also believable. I've seen it happen before at startups and larger corporations. He is the old hand, the experienced one, with the trophies and accolades to back that up; but he's also in a room with others who are equally old hands, and when money is tight and stress is high the powers that be will cut him lose. And don't believe for a moment stress isn't high. Bungie's continued existence as a studio hinges on Destiny being a wild success. I've seen estimates that Halo 3 cost 30 million to create. Destiny is a much larger project with a larger price tag.

Hopefully things will cool down and they can get back together, but at this point it the relationship may be too damaged to recover.

Well said. What ever damage has been done, has been done to both. There are no winners in this situation. I think 15 years is technically a lot of time to put into one company - you don't just leave it. Its part of his history now and vise versa.

If nothing of this is put into words during the Friday update - I will be more shocked then I was a day ago.

...because... its Marty Freakin' O'Donnell.

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I'm not sure anyone but Marty and someone at Bungie will ever know the details which, honestly, aren't really our business. Suffice it to say that I can only look at the information that has been placed before me.

What I take from this is that I truly hope I get to hear more of Marty's music in the future. And I'm pretty sure I will. :)

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I wonder what is happening to the Marty Army on B.net... there could be a full blown civil war for all we know.

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http://martyodonnellmusic.com/

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http://martyodonnellmusic.com/

Tweeting a link with a contact form after a controversial announcement? He's gonna have a bad time…

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The contact form? I'd probably not have gone that route, but it should probably get as many words of encouragement as whining, confused kids. The newsletter, though, isn't the worst way to throw together a nice little list of emails while people are still caught up in the controversy of it all, so he can still have a chance to bring those people along to his next venture even after the whole mess has cooled down.

Me? Signed up. Even if email newsletters feel like 1999, this guy is the one that sold me on Halo as something special, I want to know where he goes, and follow along.

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Music is the SOUL of everyone

Marty was the SOUL of Bungie

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Without Noitice??? no matter what the reason, and we will find out, or who made the decision

WITHOUT FUCKING NOTICE, they give McDonalds employes the courtesy of 2 weeks NOTICE

FUCK THIS is a complete DICK MOVE and I'm BENT AS HELL about it….

…but not surprised… something is AMUCK at BUNGIE time will tell, I will still get Destiny 1, as for the rest

I will see how ONCE WORSHIPPED game developer Bungie handles themselves from now on….

THIS BS.

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something is AMUCK [sic] at BUNGIE time will tell, ...

This run-on sentence contains two different ideas about the state of things. Yes, time will tell if something is wrong at Bungie, just as it has told before after Doug Zartman left, after Matt Soell left, after Alex left and so on.

Marty leaving is painful and has shaken me up personally, but ultimately all depends on what happens on launch day in September and on launch days thereafter. Same as it ever was.

Sonofmacphisto made a great point this weekend while we were talking about all the shakeups in the game industry the last few years. There's a lot of younger talent that has grown up playing these great games we love. We may not know them by name yet, but they're out there, and I think a lot of them are working for Bungie. The future could be different than we expected. It's not a bad idea to leave open the possibility that it could be better than we expected for Bungie, for us, and for Marty.

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"Without Notice" isn't really what Marty said. What he said was "without cause," and even that doesn't necessarily mean what it sounds like.

There's a couple good explanations elsewhere in the thread, but basically the phrase "without cause" means that Bungie isn't legally required to specify a reason - as in, they're declining to call out one particular thing, rather than there literally being no reason. Obviously, there is always a reason, even if it's just "we don't like you."

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Oh please let this be April Fools Day +10 (Destiny)

Is this for real?

Woah