Earlier this year, Chris Barrett, a senior figure at Bungie and the project manager on its Marathon reboot, was reported to have left the studio – and a new report has shed new light on his departure, claiming he was ousted following an internal investigation into inappropriate conduct.
Back in March, IGN reported that former Valorant game director Joe Ziegler had taken over Barrett’s role on the Marathon reboot as part of a creative leadership shake-up at Bungie. Now, however, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier claims Barrett was fired from the studio this spring after being accused of inappropriate behavior by “at least eight” female employees.
Bloomberg spoke directly to some of the women who had originally filed complaints against Barrett, along with a number of employees involved in Bungie’s investigation, and reports that Barrett repeatedly befriended women at the studio and then subjected them to “a barrage of text messages, that blurred the lines between professional and personal”. Texts seen by Bloomberg – described as “unsolicited” and “unpleasant” by the women who received them – included “flirtatious messages… and requests to hang out”.
According to Schreier, Bungie’s HR investigation ultimately found that Barrett—who had been with the company since 1999 and worked as both an artist and game director before his departure—had “called lower-level female employees attractive, told them to play truth -or -dared, referring to his wealth and power in the studio, suggesting that he could help advance their careers”.
In a response to Bloomberg, Barrett said, “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 have never understood that my communications were unsolicited, and I would I never thought they could have made anyone feel uncomfortable at all, if anyone ever felt that way about their interaction with me, I’m really sorry.”
Bungie’s Marathon reboot, now helmed by Joe Ziegler, is currently expected to release next year. Bungie said the project was one of its main focuses, along with Destiny, following its decision to lay off 220 employees — about 17 percent of the studio’s workforce — back in July. These layoffs came after 100 layoffs last October, and many former and current Bungie employees called for Bungie CEO Pete Parsons to step down.