Bungie reportedly fired Marathon reboot director Chris Barrett for "unwanted" and "inappropriate" messages to female staff

"If anyone ever felt that way about their interaction with me, I am truly sorry," says Barrett

Back in March, Bungie announced a leadership reshuffle on their Marathon reboot project, with former Valorant dev Joe Ziegler replacing veteran Bungie designer Christopher Barrett as director. It seems there was more to that story than concern about the progress of Marathon. According to a new Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources, Barrett was in fact fired this spring after he was accused by several female Bungie staff of inappropriate behaviour.

What does "inappropriate behaviour" mean? According to two of Bloomberg's sources, it means comments upon the appearance of lower-level employees, requests to hang out together, suggestions that he could use his wealth and power to advance their careers, and invitations to play truth-or-dare.

According to Bloomberg's sources, Barrett would befriend women in various Bungie departments and bombard them with text messages which, the site says, "blurred the lines between professional and personal". Several people interviewed described Barrett's advances as unwanted, and said that they felt uncomfortable given Barrett's greater seniority at Bungie. Bloomberg have reviewed some of the text messages in question, but aren't sharing details to avoid exposing their recipients.

Bloomberg claims that Barrett was eventually let go following an internal investigation in which at least eight women raised complaints about him. That last bit is according to eight sources, including both some of the women who reported Barrett and others who were involved with the investigation or spoke to the women who raised complaints. Barrett's departure was kept quiet: certain Bungie staff apparently thought that he had gone on sabbatical, but then discovered that his company accounts had been disabled.

In a statement to Bloomberg, Barrett both pushed back against the claims and apologised for his behaviour. "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," he wrote. "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."

Bungie parent Sony Interactive Entertainment, meanwhile, have told Bloomberg that they take "all complaints of misconduct very seriously" and that "it is our policy and practice to investigate every complaint promptly and take action based on the findings of our investigation", without commenting on Barrett's case in particular.

It's not clear how far back Barrett's alleged misbehaviour goes, but this isn't the first time we've heard about predatory behaviour at Bungie. Back in 2021, IGN published an extensive report on life at the Destiny studio, citing 26 current and former staff. Those interviewed shared experiences of "overt sexism, boys' club culture, crunch, and HR protection of abusers, as well as more complex stories of microaggressions, systemic inequalities, and difficulties in being heard".

The news about Barrett comes as Bungie "reposition" for an uncertain future, following what leaders have described as a period of "overly ambitious" expansion and "misfires" in a time of general economic precarity. The studio recently laid off hundreds of people and formed a new studio within Sony to shore up their finances.