Marathon game director fired for misconduct; insider says game was ‘rigged’

The news continues to be grim for Bungie, especially for Marathon, the upcoming PvP extraction shooter set in the sci-fi franchise created in the 1990s.

A few hours ago, Jason Schreier published a story on Bloomberg revealing why Game Director Christopher Barrett was replaced by former Valorant Game Director Joe Ziegler earlier this year. According to Schreier's sources, Barrett was fired following a misconduct investigation sparked by at least eight female employees reporting inappropriate behavior from the game director.

The investigation confirmed that Barrett made advances and suggested that his power within Bungie might help advance the careers of female employees. Schreier also shared a statement from Barrett:

I believe I have always behaved with integrity and been respectful and supportive of my colleagues, many of whom I consider to be my closest friends. I have never felt that my communications were unwelcome and never thought they could make anyone feel uncomfortable. If anyone has ever felt that way when dealing with me, I am truly sorry.

Interestingly, other Bungie employees were not initially informed of the circumstances of Barrett's departure. They were led to believe he was on sabbatical, but that was not the case.

Although only one person is leaving the marathon team, other problems are brewing beneath the surface, at least according to insider Tom Henderson, who tweeted that the game is “finished” according to his information. The game was originally supposed to be released in 2024, but Bungie pushed it back to 2025 along with the delay of Destiny 2: The Final Shape.

Marathon's design is ambitious. The developer plans to create a world with persistent zones where players' actions actually matter and affect everyone else in the game. Perhaps they're having trouble executing this high-level vision.