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[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

He posted and then deleted a bunch of tweets, says he's considering leaving the industry. Honestly the way this guy has been treated is just total bullshit.

Marty O'Donnell, the original composer behind Halo and Destiny, claims his YouTube channel is being forced to shut down as part of some wider legal troubles. O'Donnell is well known for his iconic music for Halo and Destiny. In addition to composing soundtracks, O'Donnell also worked as Bungie's audio director and was a member of Bungie's Board of Directors. To the surprise of many, O'Donnell suddenly departed Bungie back in 2014, later claiming he was terminated without cause.


Although Marty O'Donnell's original soundtracks are some of the best remembered in gaming history, his relationship with Bungie broke down rapidly in the months leading up to Destiny's 2014 launch. Things soured to the point that O'Donnell waged a legal fight against his former employers for unpaid wages. He ended up winning the court case back in 2015, with the origin of the disagreement reportedly revolving around Bungie's handling of O'Donnell's music. In the years since, O'Donnell co-founded indie studio Highwire Games, developer of highly controversial FPS Six Days in Fallujah, and he composed the score for the studio's 2019 VR game Golem.


Friday morning, Marty O'Donnell stated, "I'm thinking about retiring from the games industry for good," the first of a series of deleted tweets. He also shared that he'll "be forced to shut this down soon," sharing a link to his YouTube channel, where he's shared many behind-the-scenes moments from Bungie history, such as Halo-era office life and an early version of Destiny 1's theme song. Another tweet seemed to indicate that Bungie CEO Pete Parsons is somehow involved in his current issues, which may go beyond having his YouTube channel taken down. O'Donnell also shared a message on his YouTube channel (and later tweeted) asking fans to purchase his Golem OST to help pay his "huge legal fees," which could be related to the channel's possible closure. At press time, nothing concrete has been confirmed.

Halo, Destiny Composer Says He's Being Forced To Shut Down YouTube Channel

O'Donnell is shutting down his YouTube channel.

screenrant.com

 

[ResilientBanana]

Fuck Bungie.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

 

[godhandiscen]

Yeah, fuck Bungie. That company died for me ages ago. In their current incarnation, they are not the company that made the games I grew up with.

What they did to Marty stinks, and it continues to get worse.

 

[Dr Bass]

Any good references on what this is all about? Seems totally insane for a company to try and ruin a person ...

 

[Krappadizzle]

Bungie sucks. They suck now. Well, have for a while, but still.

 

[mansoor1980]

is there any chance that 343 industries hires him?

 

[//DEVIL//]

This guy Is a legend . Don’t you dare ruin him :/

 

[DeepEnigma]

They go after the dude like he fucked all their wives.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

343i, please hire him to help save Halo with Staten, fire Frankie, Bonnie Ross, and Kiki Wolfkill, and tell Bungie to fuck off and leave Marty alone in regards to Halo stuff as MS kept it in their divorce.

 

[elliot5]

is there any chance that 343 industries hires him?

doubt it. the recent Infinite music tracks sound just as good as the OG Halo stuff to my ears, not sure he's "needed" anymore. They have the Ori guy composing tracks and he's godlike

 

[Moonjt9]

Throw Bungie in with Blizzard and BioWare as companies that are crooked shadows of their former glorious selves.

 

[Fare thee well]

Artists are always the last to get paid and then get paid the lowest for the amount of hours put in. I'd love to see people try to survive in a world without quality music, painting, cinema, concept-work, gaming, etc etc. It fuels us everyday and yet we pay it nothing.

 

[AnotherOne]

Sad way to treat a legend.

 

[Mr Moose]

Activision weren't the pricks this time.

They go after the dude like he fucked all their wives.

Like Kojima and the Kagemasa Kozuki's wife.

 

[Dusktildawn48]

Any good references on what this is all about? Seems totally insane for a company to try and ruin a person ...

Especially a person who was a major reason that Bungie was respected as much as they were.

 

[elliot5]

Activision weren't the pricks this time.

Like Kojima and the Kagemasa Kozuki's wife.

Part of what's caused the beef between Bungie and Marty is because Activision decided to use their own music over Marty's in the Destiny E3 presentation for whatever reason, causing him to go rogue and get bad reports -> explusion. I don't think Marty is necessarily "innocent", but it seems to be a clusterfuck of Activision and Marty and now Bungie taking up the aftermath mantle idk.

 

[eastcoastkody]

what this man do

 

[Elder Legend]

Fuck Bungie. Fuck Destiny. And fuck anything else they make in the future.

 

[Entroyp]

I’m a big fan of his work so I will make that purchase.

 

[Mr Moose]

Part of what's caused the beef between Bungie and Marty is because Activision decided to use their own music over Marty's in the Destiny E3 presentation for whatever reason, causing him to go rogue and get bad reports -> explusion. I don't think Marty is necessarily "innocent", but it seems to be a clusterfuck of Activision and Marty and now Bungie taking up the aftermath mantle idk.

Kotick being a puppeteer behind the scenes, they might leave but they won't get far *sinister laugh*
I don't know, I've been drinking

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Any good references on what this is all about? Seems totally insane for a company to try and ruin a person ...

what this man do

He still hasn't outright stated it but people have been able to piece together that it seems Bungie (or specifically Bungie CEO Pete Parsons) is suing him and trying to get his Youtube terminated over the behind the scenes Halo/Destiny material he's been posting on there. Of course it doesn't help that they probably still have beef because of the initial split back in 2015.

 

[Sidesalad]

What the hell does Bungie hope to accomplish with this other than looking like giant assholes?

 

[SEGA_2012]

What the fuck, Bungie. Leave the man alone.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

Destiny, not even worth a download. Be free man.

 

[Balducci30]

I love the older halo games - but there’s usually two sides to these stories I feel like. Is he completely innocent here? No idea what’s happened

 

[Warnen]

Well if you guys would just buy more $8 chrome skins for your weapons Bungie wouldn’t need the money…. Really it’s all your guys fault

 

[It's all in the wrist]

Wait, on ResetERA, they were calling Marty a huge asshole? Someone tell me what to believe.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Can anyone quickly recap why Bungie and this guy are in legal issues?

Why is Bungie going after him? He doing some sketchy things with old music tracks Bungie owns or something?

 

[Renozokii]

Throw Bungie in with Blizzard and BioWare as companies that are crooked shadows of their former glorious selves.

I mean destiny 1 and 2 are more fun and have more developed lore than halo 4 and 5.

 

[rapid32.5]

You don't shit where you sit Bungie wtf ?

 

[Interfectum]

Wait, on ResetERA, they were calling Marty a huge asshole? Someone tell me what to believe.

 

[eyesabitdull]

Wait, on ResetERA, they were calling Marty a huge asshole? Someone tell me what to believe.

Who isnt considered an asshole on that site?

 

[vypermajik]

I’m a huge fan. Sad he is being so violently attacked. I jam out to the Halo 3 soundtrack often.

 

[bender]

Wait, on ResetERA, they were calling Marty a huge asshole? Someone tell me what to believe.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Wait, on ResetERA, they were calling Marty a huge asshole? Someone tell me what to believe.

A good rule of thumb, go oppo from the insane asylum. I now believe Marty for life.

 

[godhandiscen]

Wait, on ResetERA, they were calling Marty a huge asshole? Someone tell me what to believe.

Probably because the studio Marty funded built Six Days In Fallujah, which accurately represented scenarios of war in the Middle East.

REE is pro "sharia law" when it suits their causes.

 

[Juza]

If anyone wonders why is he being sued, I think because he spoke out about the real reasons why he was being fired.

1:43:35



I wouldn't be surprised if Activision also behind this lawsuit.

 

[IntentionalPun]

I’m not seeing anything here actually suggesting Bungie is involved?

Lot of assumptions being made here lol

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

I’m not seeing anything here actually suggesting Bungie is involved?

Lot of assumptions being made here lol

He specifically named Parsons when asked about it in a (now deleted) tweet.

So they seem like the most likely culprit as of right now, but again he hasn't really outright stated it yet.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

If anyone wonders why is he being sued, I think because he spoke out about the real reasons why he was being fired.

1:43:35



I wouldn't be surprised if Activision also behind this lawsuit.

Did he have an NDA somewhere in his employment? Even when getting fired?

If there was an NDA and he decided to speak out about it, no doubt he'll get his ass sued.

Even my good buddies who had got let go at jobs and they agreed on a severance packaged based on them going after them with lawyers for more money won't even tell me now what kind of moolah they got out of it.

We'll talk openly about salaries, bonus, what benefits we get at jobs while at a pub chilling. But bring up legal battles and pay out packages and none of them spill the beans.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

A NDA is a NDA.

Doubly so when you are a member of the BoD.

The only folks that know what is going on are the lawyers…and Bungie has really good lawyers.

Marty has been in the industry for YEARS and has seen this type of thing happen to others.

Having been in a similar situation in the past I can say that holding your tongue sucks. Realizing that you cannot fight “the man” (even when you feel you are right) really really sucks. But blowing up your case on social media and creating more work for your legal team never helps.

I hope Marty comes out of this unscathed, but for the time being: keep your emotions in check and stay away from the social media echo chamber.

 

[supernova8]

Bungie lol. If only they made something other than Destiny, which is the most boring game I've ever played, aside from that old ET Atari game.

 

[IntentionalPun]

He specifically named Parsons when asked about it in a (now deleted) tweet.

So they seem like the most likely culprit as of right now, but again he hasn't really outright stated it yet.

Thanks; didn't see that in the article.

He doesn't come across particularly mature to me lol

Artist gonna artist I guess.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

A NDA is a NDA.

Doubly so when you are a member of the BoD.

The only folks that know what is going on are the lawyers…and Bungie has really good lawyers.

Marty has been in the industry for YEARS and has seen this type of thing happen to others.

Having been in a similar situation in the past I can say that holding your tongue sucks. Realizing that you cannot fight “the man” (even when you feel you are right) really really sucks. But blowing up your case on social media and creating more work for your legal team never helps.

I hope Marty comes out of this unscathed, but for the time being: keep your emotions in check and stay away from the social media echo chamber.

If he's getting nailed by Bungie lawyers due to NDA because he was acting like a cowboy on social media gabbing about it, thats his fault.

As I've said many times over and over again, video game people have this wild west attitude. Nobody can ever shut them up. I guess not even lawyers.

I get it. They think they are a celebrity making video games and always strive for clicks, comments and sub count. But sometimes, you got to know when to zip it.

 

[godhandiscen]

Thanks; didn't see that in the article.

He doesn't come across particularly mature to me lol

Artist gonna artist I guess.

I seriously don't understand how you can say "artists gonna artist" without knowing jack shit of what happened. The guy is great part of the success of Bungie, and under Activision, they found a way to rob him of his share of the company. Activision just piled lawyers on him until they eventually bankrupted him.

How Halo And Destiny's Composer Got Fired From Bungie

In April of 2014 Martin “Marty” O’Donnell, then Bungie’s audio director, was fired from the company “without cause.” A court ruling issued last week in a case between the composer and his former employer sheds light on the events leading up to his termination and the hand Activision played in...

kotaku.com

Under the proposed agreement O’Donnell would continue working on Destinyuntil work was complete—no later than July 31 of 2014. Considering the deadline unrealistic—sound design could not be completed until the game was in a largely finished and bugless state—and feeling some of the clauses in the agreement, including one that would see him forfeit stock ownership and give up his rights as a company shareholder, O’Donnell declined their proposal but agreed to continue working.

The day the music died: When Bungie fired Marty O'Donnell

In February 2013, Bungie invited the world's press into its Bellevue, Washington studio to show Destiny for the first t…

www.eurogamer.net

 

[IntentionalPun]

I seriously don't understand how you can say "artists gonna artist" without knowing jack shit of what happened. The guy is great part of the success of Bungie, and under Activision, they found a way to rob him of his share of the company. Activision just piled lawyers on him until they eventually bankrupted him.

I know some of what happened... he threw a fit over Activision changing the trailer music.

Bungie are also dicks.. doesn't mean he hasn't acted like a bit of a brat.

And who bankrupted him? He won his lawsuits for back pay and for his stock.

 

[fatmarco]

doubt it. the recent Infinite music tracks sound just as good as the OG Halo stuff to my ears, not sure he's "needed" anymore. They have the Ori guy composing tracks and he's godlike

Chill lol. All the released tracks are merely remixed O'Donnell melodies/tracks.

It's a bit early to give them credit when we're not even sure if they're even going to create original melodies for the game.