14 DAY TRIAL // Marty O’Donnell, the composer that has worked with Bungie on the Halo series for fifteen years, has been fired by the studio, apparently without reason, which means that gamers will be unable to enjoy his work for the upcoming Destiny title.
On Twitter, the composer claims that his contract termination was effective starting on April 11 and that he was offered no clear information on why the board of directors made the decision.
The move makes little sense for Bungie given how many fans Marty O’Donnell has managed to acquire with his work on the Halo series, which has been widely seen as a standard for how music needs to be used in a shooter.
The composer joined the company in 1999 just as the studio was being acquired by Microsoft.
It’s unclear how much work he has contributed to the new Destiny title and how much of it will actually be included in the final release of the game.
Bungie has issued a statement on the Marty O’Donnell situation, saying that, “For more than a decade, Marty O’Donnell filled our worlds with unforgettable sounds and soundtracks, and left an indelible mark on our fans. 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.”
The company is not offering any reason for the decision it has made, which will probably puzzle fans and lead to more questions on social media and the official forums.
At the moment, Bungie is hard at work on the Destiny experience, which is expected to get an official beta testing period at some point during the summer, probably only open to those who are willing to pre-order the title.
The game is designed to take the player to the future and ask him to protect the last remaining city on Earth using a variety of classes, each with a unique set of powers and abilities.
Bungie has promised that it will deliver a complex game that encourages players to create groups in order to take on the toughest enemies, but can also be experienced solo.
Destiny is set to be launched on September 9 all over the world and will be playable on the Xbox One from Microsoft, the PlayStation 4 from Sony and current-gen consoles and there are no plans to introduce cross-platform play.