Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Halo, Destiny Composer Martin O’Donnell Let Go From Bungie ‘Without Cause’
Halo composer Martin O’Donnell, who has been working on the score for Bungie’s upcoming persistent online shooter Destiny, has been let go from the developer. According to a statement made by O’Donnell he was terminated by the company on April 11 “without cause.”
O’Donnell took to Twitter to share the news. “I'm saddened to say that Bungie's board of directors terminated me without cause on April 11, 2014,” he writes.
Bungie has posted a statement in regard to O’Donnell’s termination, as well. “For more than a decade, Marty O’Donnell filled our worlds with unforgettable sounds and soundtracks, and left an indelible mark on our fans,” Bungie community manager David Dague writes. “Today, as friends, we say goodbye. We know that wherever his journey takes him, he will always have a bright and hopeful future. We wish him luck in all his future endeavors.”
O’Donnell joined Bungie in 2000, and is responsible for the music of all five Halo games produced by the studio. Prior to joining Bungie, O’Donnell worked on Bungie’s Oni, Myth, Myth 2, and the original Halo: Combat Evolved on a contract basis before being hired shortly after Bungie was purchased by Microsoft.
Destiny, which O’Donnell was working on at the time of his termination with frequent collaborator Michael Salvatori and Paul McCartney, is schedule for release on September 9, 2014. For more on Martin O'Donnell, read an in-depth interview from 2010 and an in-depth look at the music of Destiny from our January 2014 cover story.
[Source: Martin O’Donnell on Twitter, Bungie]
Our Take
Typically only top executives are terminated by a company’s board of directors, with other human resources issues handled by management instead of the governing body. There is more to this story that has yet to be revealed.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
