Bungie reportedly fired the former Marathon director following a human resources investigation into inappropriate behavior

Christopher Barrett led Marathon at Bungie until March 2024. Other employees at Bungie were told Barrett was on leave, but soon discovered that his company accounts had been deactivated. Now, a report by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier says Barrett was actually fired after being accused of inappropriate behavior.

On August 28, 2024, Bloomberg reported that Chris Barrett was fired for allegedly engaging in inappropriate behavior toward several female staffers. According to the people Bloomberg News spoke to, the stories were similar in nature. Barrett befriended them and then sent a “barrage of text messages that blurred the lines between professional and personal.”

The report also says Barrett called lower-level female employees attractive, asked them to play truth or dare, and talked about his wealth and position at Bungie. Several women told Bloomberg that these were unwelcome conversations and advances and that Barrett's authority at Bungie made them feel uncomfortable.

Barrett issued a statement to Bloomberg News:

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.

Bungie has had several rounds of layoffs recently, most recently laying off 220 employees due to “economic conditions.” Bungie CEO Pete Parsons noted that this had to happen and that Bungie needed to focus its development efforts entirely on Destiny and Marathon.

It's not clear what form Marathon will take when it's finally released. A report from IGN noted that Joe Ziegler had become Marathon's director around the time of Barrett's departure. The article also notes that the style is moving “away from custom player characters in favor of a selectable cast of heroes,” much to the chagrin of the gaming community.

These are difficult times at Bungie, with layoffs, a restructuring of the game's direction, and now reports that Chris Barrett has been fired for inappropriate behavior. For more information, see our Bungie and Marathon topic pages.