Bungie’s Marathon director was fired for misconduct

A few months ago, we learned that Bungie veteran and Marathon director, Chris Barrett, was no longer at the company. This week, we learned that he was in fact fired from the company, following the results of an investigation.

Bloomberg's Jason Schreier broke the news last night, stating that ‘at least' eight women had gone to Bungie's HR with complaints about Barrett's conduct. After that, Bungie conducted its own investigation into the allegations, finding that Barrett would inappropriately hit on lower-level employees and ask them to play games of truth or dare.

There were also instances of flirtatious text messages, as well as instances of flaunting wealth and power. Barrett benefitted greatly from Sony's acquisition of Bungie, having been an employee since the days of Halo. The acquisition gave many higher-ups at Bungie the opportunity to cash in on shares. Bungie's CEO was also previously accused of flaunting wealth in the months leading up to mass lay-offs at the company.

Barrett did respond to Bloomberg's request for comment, brushing off the allegation: “I feel that I have always conducted myself with integrity and been respectful and supportive of my colleagues, many of whom I consider my closest friends. I never understood my communications to be unwanted and I would have never thought they could possibly have made anyone feel uncomfortable. If anyone ever felt that way about their interaction with me, I am truly sorry.”

As a result of this story breaking, Bungie has gone back and removed the Marathon Dev Diary from YouTube, as it heavily featured Barrett.

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KitGuru Says: You don't get fired for displaying integrity and respect, and it is highly unlikely that a group of eight employees working in different departments would all report similar stories unless it was a real pattern of behaviour.

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