Didn't see that coming: Bungie fires Marty O'Donnell "without cause" - Polidicks

[quote]Marty O'Donnell, Bungie's in-house composer and the man responsible for Halo's iconic theme song, says he has been "terminated...without cause" by the studio. [I]I'm saddened to say that Bungie's board of directors terminated me without cause on April 11, 2014. — Marty O'Donnell (@MartyTheElder)[/I] We're contacting Bungie for comment, and will update if we hear back. O'Donnell was one of the last employees still working at Bungie from its days prior to Microsoft's purchase of the company in 1999. In addition to his work on the Halo series, O'Donnell has done a ton of sound work, as well as composing music for the upcoming Destiny. [url=http://kotaku.com/halos-composer-fired-without-cause-1563698238]Source.[/url][/quote] Apologies for lack of information and Kotaku link, but it's a developing story.

That's an appalling decision.

There has to be more of a reason behind this; you don't just throw somebody like that out "without cause", right?

I was excited for his Destiny music too.. hope he lands on his feet and stays in the gaming industry.

[QUOTE=theseltsamone;44559015]There has to be more of a reason behind this; you don't just throw somebody like that out "without cause", right?[/QUOTE] Washington isn't a "right to work" state so, far as I know he could be fired for literally no reason. That said, someone as prolific as Marty most likely wouldn't be fired just for the hell of it. I imagine there's a lot more to this.

He must've done something to get fired. A shame, since his music was really cool, hell, i still find myself humming the Halo theme from time to time.

Musicians get tossed around, discredited, miscredited, etc like this all the time. It fucking sucks... Artists in general, rather.

Yeah hes one of the best composers out there. You dont just throw him away for no reason. I smell bullshit coming from Bungie

Damn, what the heck could of influenced this :(

That's tremendously fucked up. I don't know what the internal politics are like at Bungie, but as far as I'm concerned, Marty is golden. His music could easily be included in the top five video game soundtracks.

[QUOTE=Demomanjaro;44559060]He must've done something to get fired.[/QUOTE] Then he'd have been terminated [I]with[/I] cause. Example: Won't stop looking up porn of dogs fucking women on company machines: Terminated with cause. Position redundant due to downsizing, changing corporate strategies or whatever: Terminated without cause. Although "we don't want to talk about the actual reason" would also slide under 'without' at their discretion, I guess.

They're fucking idiots. He did the only thing that was good about Halo.

[QUOTE=Robman8908;44559260]They're fucking idiots. He did the only thing that was good about Halo.[/QUOTE] Don't.

But he's been with them almost since the start. The team at Bungie love the guy, just watch some of the development videos. And the quality of music he makes is unparalleled. :(

Does that mean that the 3 dudes that did the halo 1n2 commentaries are gone? That is sad, they seemed like nice, talented, and funny guys.

Just gave the halo theme a listen, completely forgot just how awesome it is.

that's so fucking sad, I love this guy's work

I can easily see him quickly getting picked up by a new company, but its dumb they'd get rid of him.

I wonder what happened, because Bungie made a big deal about how he was doing the sound for Destiny and working with Paul McCartney.

[img]http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/4067/612201-marty_odonnell_mullet.jpg[/img] But he is one of the most identifiable people in Bungie. I mean, with him gone who do you have? [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Staten]Joseph Staten[/url] is with Microsoft and Frank O' Connor is with 343. All you have left would be Jason Jones dancing in his boxers.

This is nuts, Marty was one of the most well known people of Bungie and people love his music like crazy. Why on earth would the fire him?

Wild guess, but the first thing that came to my mind was that he was using his name and reputation to influence things towards his benefit within the company, best analogy I can think of is the 'too big to fail' banks. Except for the board decided for him to fail, and oh boy it must have been a controversial choice. You don't just toss away a man like Martin O'Donnell.

The last news article I remember reading about Bungie and Destiny is that Marty was working with Paul McCartney on the soundtrack. How do you go from that, to this? It's unlikely it would be company downsizing, especially as they're partnered with Activision of all people.

Man, this sucks.

[QUOTE=JeanLuc761;44559051]Washington isn't a "right to work" state so, far as I know he could be fired for literally no reason. That said, someone as prolific as Marty most likely wouldn't be fired just for the hell of it. I imagine there's a lot more to this.[/QUOTE] Just a side note here- "right to work laws" are often exactly the opposite of what the name implies. Ohio, for instance, has a right to work law. It allows employers to fire someone for any or no reason.... Before unemployment comp made an issue of it the employer didn't even have to say anything in regards to why. Now there's a law where they have to give a reason- but that reason can be anything, even "because we wanted to".

Come work at 343 now

I feel like 343 will be some of the first to try and scoop him up. It'd be best for Halo if they do anyway. As for the without cause bit, I think if it's nothing internal it's because upon review the may have felt his music unfitting for Destiny and the atmosphere they wanted, or possibly even an unannounced IP or something. They may just want to test the waters with someone new. That being said, I don't feel it's a good decision because damn it he has created some of the most memorable tracks in my opinion.

what the fuck

Who would have thought Bungie would get shittier *after* leaving Microsoft.

Now that is seriously concerning.