Marathon director Chris Barrett was fired after an inner misconduct investigation at Bungie, in accordance with a brand new Bloomberg report citing sources inside the studio, who say that at least eight girls got here ahead saying that Barrett behaved inappropriately towards them.
The brand new report says that Barrett “referred to as decrease-degree feminine staff engaging, requested them to play fact-or-dare and made references to his wealth and energy inside the studio, suggesting that he may assist advance their careers.” Barrett additionally allegedly befriended girls in numerous division and despatched them a “barrage of textual content messages that blurred the strains between skilled and private.”
Internally, Bloomberg stories that Bungie staff weren’t informed in regards to the circumstances behind Barrett’s firing, believing that he was on sabbatical. Later, some found that his accounts had been disabled.
Barrett stated in a press release to Bloomberg, “I really feel that I’ve at all times carried out myself with integrity and been respectful and supportive of my colleagues, a lot of whom I take into account my closest buddies. I by no means understood my communications to be undesirable and I might have by no means thought they may presumably have made anybody really feel uncomfortable. If anybody ever felt that manner about their interplay with me, I’m actually sorry.”
A Sony Interactive Leisure spokesperson stated the corporate takes “all complaints of misconduct very significantly. It’s our coverage and observe to analyze each grievance promptly and take motion primarily based on the findings of our investigation.”
IGN broke the information of Barrett being changed as Marathon director by former Valorant director Joe Ziegler again in March. The report additionally detailed how Bungie was “pouring sources into getting Marathon out the door,” with the course shifting beneath Ziegler from customized participant characters to a selectable forged of heroes. Previous to that, IGN delved into Bungie’s battle to handle points with crunch and office misconduct.
Since then, Bungie has been rocked by main layoffs impacting some 200 employees, or about 17 p.c of the studio’s workforce. It is a part of an trade-huge upheaval that has impacted publishers together with Xbox, Sony, EA, and extra.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s Information Director in addition to co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Ship her a DM at @the_katbot.